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My Name is Meow 


PUSSr MEOIV: 


The Autobiography of a Cat 


BY s 

S. LOUISE PATTESON 


With an Introduction by 
SARAH K. BOLTON 



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PHILADELPHIA 

GEORGE W. JACOBS & CO 

103-105 SOUTH FIFTEENTH STREET 





THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two C or ltd Received 

SEP. 23 1901 

COFYRIGHT ENTRY 

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* Class <^xxc. m*. 

COPY B. 


Copyright, 1901 
By George \V. Jacobs & Co 




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To “Guy” 






















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In the fall of 1895, while the National Conven- 
tion of the S. P. C. A. was in session in Cleveland, 
a group of people stood in the assembly room one 
day discussing “ Black Beauty ” and “ Beautiful 
Joe.” One expressed the hope that as the horse 
and the dog had now secured a public hearing, 
some one would be willing to undertake the same 
for the cat. That same evening “ Pussy Meow ” 
began writing her story. Its only object is to 
breathe out the joys, the sorrows and the longings 
of a misunderstood and much maligned fellow- 
creature, and to secure for her the consideration 
which humanity owes to the dumb. 

Cleveland, O., 1901. 


5 


Contents 


CHAP. PAGE 

Introduction u 

I. Early Recollections 17 

II. Budge and Toddy 22 

III. My Reasons for writing this Story 28 

IV. A Pleasant Outing 34 

V. Some Experiences on the Farm 41 

VI. Home Again 47 

VII. New Companions 52 

VIII. Budge and Toddy the Second 59 

IX. A Happy Home 64 

X. Our Happiest Days 71 

XI. Betsy Whitefoot 76 

XII. Sunshine and Shadow 84 

XIII. Jack 91 

XIV. Christmas 96 

XV. Old Blackie 102 

XVI. My Great Sorrow 109 

XVII. The Kind Providence 115 

XVIII. A Welcome Visitor 125 

XIX. A Joyful Reunion 131 

XX. A New Home 137 

XXI. Our Winged Friends 143 

XXII. New Neighbors 15 1 

XXIII. Our Summer Outing 157 

XXIV. Raising a Family 165 

XXV. Breaking Home Ties 172 

7 


8 


Contents 


XXVI. A Friendly Chat 178 

XXVII. Another Home 185 

XXVIII. Booker T. Washington and Admiral Dewey ... 194 

XXIX. Two Far Journeys 203 

XXX. The Burglar Man 214 

XXXI. A Friend in Need 222 

XXXII. A Kittie Party 230 


Illustrations 


PAGE 

My Name is Meow Frontispiece. 

Guy 28 

My friend Dennis 29 

He crawled in and fell asleep 72 

Jack 91 

He told me a very interesting story 93 

The two were holding a friendly talk in the garden 141 

Toddy — Mrs. Smith’s particular friend 191 

Booker T. Washington 194 

Snowdrop 210 

Hiddigeigei, Patsy, and Lady Jane Grey 230 


9 






Introduction 


I have read with great interest this true story of 
Pussy Meow,” written by one, who, in the midst 
of a very busy life, finds time to be a devoted 
friend to the speechless, and to study their nature 
and habits. The life of the author has been full 
of noble deeds for animals, and I am glad of an 
opportunity to say how much I wish all women 
would do likewise. 

The book abounds in practical suggestions about 
the care, the food, the comfort, and the needs of 
the animal world, blended so pleasantly with the 
story that both young people and adults will find it 
charming and helpful. The picture of the happy 
home of mother and child, where cats sleep in the 
sun, or kittens frolic and make merry with their 
human friends, will linger in one’s mind long after 
the book is closed. Now one’s heart is touched by 

the pathetic death of a homeless creature, and 
11 


12 


Introduction 


again one laughs at the winsome and intelligent 
acts of our dumb companions. 

After reading the book, some will remember to 
make their pets happy on Christmas day, rather 
than spend all for personal enjoyment. Some, it 
is hoped, when going into the country for the 
summer, or for a vacation, will take their cats 
with them, as did the writer of “ Pussy Meow,” 
and not let them starve alone at home ; or, on re- 
turning to the city, leave them on ocean beaches, 
or deserted mountain-tops, to die of hunger and 
cold. 

Cats have had a varied history. In Egypt, in 
early times, they were loved and worshiped. At 
death they were embalmed, and given a costly 
funeral. Cambyses, the son of Cyrus the Great, 
when he conquered Egypt, placed a number of cats 
and dogs at the head of his army, and the Egyp- 
tians unwilling to kill the creatures they loved, 
would not defend themselves, and became an easy 
prey. The present Shah of Persia, it is said, has 
fifty petted cats, each cared for by an attendant, 
and these accompany him in his travels. 

Cats have been loved by noted persons through 
the centuries. Mahomet cut off the sleeve of his 


Introduction 


l 3 

robe rather than awaken the pet cat who slept upon 
it. Petrarch loved his cat and had it embalmed at 
death. Montaigne could do his best writing only 
when his left hand fondled his cat. 

The love of sailors and soldiers for their pets is 
well known. In the dreadful explosion of the 
Maine before Havana, two of the three cats belong- 
ing to the sailors, perished, but Tom, thirteen years 
old, beloved by all the seamen, was saved. He 
was asleep three decks down, or nearly thirty feet 
below the upper deck. In the agony of dying 
men, probably nobody thought of Tom. In the 
morning he was discovered crying piteously, on 
that part of the wreck which remained above the 
water. Commodore Wainwright hastened to take 
him off in a boat to the Fern, where he was 
warmly welcomed. 

Nothing attracted me more on the great battle- 
ship Indiana, battered in the war with Spain, than 
a basket containing a cat and five kittens, whom 
the sailors were shielding from the sun with a piece 
of canvas, and talking to them in terms of endear- 
ment. 

“ Take care of my cat ! ” were the last words of 
Dr. Stark, a British surgeon killed by a shell at 


H 


Introduction 


Ladysmith, in the war with the Boers. The 
animal had been his constant companion. 

“ The cat,” as Harrison Weir says, “ is not only 
a very useful animal about the house and premises, 
but is also ornamental. It is lithe and beautiful in 
form, and graceful in action.” 

Another well-known English writer says, “ There 
is no animal in existence more sensitive and ca- 
pable of attachment than the domestic cat, or any 
of her progeny.” 

Cats have often saved life ; also houses from 
burning. At Geneva, N. Y., a child of three at- 
tempted to take a rattlesnake. A pet Maltese cat 
killed it, and saved the child. A similar thing 
happened in Pennsylvania. 

A woman in New York City took into her house 
a stray and hungry cat. A year later by the ex- 
plosion of a lamp, the house was set on fire. The 
cries of the cat aroused the owner, and thus all the 
inmates of the tenement house were saved. 

On the Pacific Coast, the steamer Wildwood 
went to the bottom of the bay. There was but 
one man asleep on board at the time of sinking. 
The boat’s cat scratched the face of the sleeper, 
who threw her away from him. Again she 


Introduction 


*5 


scratched his face, and cried so vigorously that the 
man was aroused, climbed the mast, and was 
rescued. 

Cats are often devoted to animals, as well as to 
persons. My own pet cat, Maltese and white, was 
the loving friend of my great St. Bernard dog, 
Bernie. When the mate of the Maltese died, the 
cat came to the dog, apparently for sympathy. 
For a year they walked together, shared their bed, 
and were like human friends. The dog died when 
six years old, and the lonely cat soon followed, and 
was buried beside Bernie. 

We seem to be coming into a nobler civilization. 
Queen Victoria said at the Jubilee meeting of the 
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
Animals: “ No civilization is complete which does 
not include the dumb and defenseless of God’s 
creatures within the sphere of charity and 
mercy.” 

We are growing kinder to animals ; homes are 
being provided for the homeless. There are homes 
for cats in Dublin, in London, and other English 
cities, as well as some in Egpyt and India. The 
Gifford Sheltering Home for Animals, in Boston, is 
doing great good ; also the Frances Power Cobbe 


6 


Introduction 


Refuge in Indianapolis, Indiana. We are teaching 
our children to be kind to every living creature. 
May this story of “ Pussy Meow ” help forward the 
good work. 


Sarah K. Bolton. 


Pussy Meow 


I 

EARLY RECOLLECTIONS 

I am a little pussy cat, and my name is Meow. 

When I was a very small kitty, I lived with my 
mother and two other kittens in a nice green yard. 
My mother was a purple Maltese, and she used to 
tell us with great pride how, as a kitten, she was 
brought here by her mistress from old Virginia. 
Her name was Malta, and her children were Nora, 
Fluffie and Trix. 

I was Fluffie. 

And we had such a dear little mistress. 

Her full name was Annebelle Virginia Lowery, 
but they called her “ Virgie ” for short. She had 
beautiful golden curls, and eyes the color of the 
sky when the sun shines. Her cheeks were like 
two little rosy cushions. 

17 


1 8 Pussy Meow 

Every morning a “ bus,” filled with pretty chil- 
dren, called to take Miss Virgie to the kinder- 
garten, and sometimes she would take Miriam and 
Mildred with her. I used to wish she would take 
me too. 

In the garden Miss Virgie had a little playhouse, 
in a sunny corner of which was our basket and 
rug, and here also lived Miriam and Mildred. On 
pleasant afternoons the nurse would bring Miriam 
and Mildred out under a big shade-tree where there 
was a bench and a table; and here Miss Virgie 
sometimes “ served tea ” in dainty blue china, while 
we kittens would frolic among the bushes and learn 
to climb trees. But poor Miriam and Mildred could 
not have any such fun as we did; they just re- 
mained seated on the bench all the time ; you see 
they were only dollies. 

My mother could climb clear up to the tops of 
the tallest trees, and she was allowed to go wher- 
ever she pleased, because she was so wise. 

Sometimes she would be gone away a long time, 
and upon her return would bring a mouse or a 
sparrow for us, and teach us how to play with it. 
But our favorite plaything was her long bushy tail, 
of which she seemed to be very proud, and which 


Early Recollections 19 

she would twist and toss and sway before our eyes 
in the most tantalizing fashion. Of course, we 
would all take our turn at trying to catch it, but the 
minute we thought we had a good hold, the first 
thing we knew the tail would be over on the other 
side ; and then by the time we got over there, it 
would be back where it was before. Many times, 
when, after long chasing, I finally caught hold of the 
elusive member, and while holding on to it with all 
my might, I could feel it slipping and sliding through 
my claws, and before I knew it had gone from me, 
I would see her proudly waving it in the air again. 

One morning, when my mother had gone away 
as usual, I saw some children at play on the side- 
walk, and I thought how nice it would be to be with 
them. It was very naughty for me to think of such 
a thing, because we had been told never to go out- 
side the yard ; and as neither Trix nor Nora would 
go with me, I went alone. 

As soon as I reached the sidewalk, a big black 
dog came across the street and barked at me. I 
started to run back through the gate, but it had 
closed, and I hadn’t time to look for a hole to 
crawl through. So I ran down the sidewalk, trem- 
bling with fright. 


20 


Pussy Meow 

When I had run a long way, I went into a yard, 
but the people there didn’t like cats ; a boy was 
sent to chase me through the gate, and I continued 
my wearisome journey. How I did wish that 
somebody would take me up, or show me the way 
home ; but nobody seemed to care what became 
of me. Finally, being so very tired, I crawled 
in under a fence, and seeing no one around, I lay 
down in the corner and went to sleep. 

I do not know how long I lay there. When I 
awoke the moon was shining, and I continued my 
journey down the sidewalk, hoping to find my yard. 
But when after a long walk I didn’t find it, not 
knowing what else to do, I sat down by a tree and 
began to cry. 

To make me still more wretched and unhappy, 
two boys came along, and one of them started to pelt 
me with stones. He was the same boy that had 
chased me out of his yard that very morning. I 
suppose he would have killed me had not a kind 
lady come along just at that moment. I was trying 
to hide behind the tree so the stones would not hit 
me, but as soon as the lady saw me, she called one 
of the boys by name. “Teddy, dear,” said she, 
“ I am surprised to see that you will allow such a 


21 


Early Recollections 

heartless thing as this to happen in your presence. 
Think how your mother would feel if she knew of 
it.” 

The lady then stooped down and talked very 
kindly to me, and I answered her ; and when she 
got up to go, I followed, and cried after her so 
loudly that she finally picked me up and took me 
with her. Oh, how glad I was to get away from 
that dreadful boy and his stones ! I kissed the 
gloves on the hands that held me to show my 
thankfulness. 

My lady friend had walked but a short distance 
when she stopped at a little house and rang the 
bell ; but the house was dark, and it was a long 
time before any one opened the door. At last a 
lady came out, and my friend said, “ Isn’t this one 
of your kittens ? ” 

“ Yes,” said the lady, without even looking at 
me, “ they run away every little while.” 

Then she took me out of my friend’s hands and 
carried me to the kitchen, and put me in a basket 
that had a nice soft pad in it, and some other cats. 
But they did not notice me, and very soon I fell 
asleep and forgot the day’s troubles. 


II 


BUDGE AND TODDY 

The next morning I was still in the basket when 
I heard some one say : “ Do look, here is a new 
kitten, a tiger ! it must be the one I took in last 
night, thinking it was mine.” The voice was the 
same that I had heard at the door the evening 
before. 

For a moment I feared that I should lose my 
nice new home ; but when I saw the lady’s round, 
good-natured face, I knew that she could not find 
it in her heart to turn away a helpless little creature 
like me, even if she had taken me in by mistake. 

After petting the other kittens a while, the lady 
took me up and looked into my eyes, and said I 
had a good face. Then a big boy came out and 
she put me into his arms. I trembled when he 
took me, for I had learned to be afraid of boys. 
But this boy handled me very gently, and after 
looking me all over carefully and pressing me 

fondly to his cheek, he said,“ Why, mamma, this is a 
22 


Budge and Toddy 23 

beautiful kitty! Won’t you let her stay?” Then 
he put me very tenderly back into the basket. 

“ She looks so much like our old Meow,” said 
the lady, “ I think we will keep her.” You can 
imagine that this made me very happy. 

They named me “ Meow,” and the other two 
cats were “ Budge ” and “ Toddy.” They were 
Maltese. 

For a time Budge and Toddy acted anything but 
friendly toward me, but as they were bigger than I, 
I just kept very quiet, while they stood by the edge 
of the basket, humping their backs, bristling their 
tails and grinning at me to their hearts’ content. 
Pretty soon mistress came out with our breakfast, 
arid they ran to meet her; but I remained in the 
basket until invited to join them. I was glad mis- 
tress stayed while we ate, for Budge gave an angry 
growl every now and then, and Toddy tried his 
best to crowd me out of the dish. But the break- 
fast tasted good just the same, because a day’s fast- 
ing had made me very hungry. 

I saw at once that Budge and Toddy were very 
well-bred cats, for they washed themselves as soon 
as they had finished the meal, just as my dear 
mother had taught me to do. But being in a new 


24 Pussy Meow 

place, and amid strange surroundings, somehow I 
forgot myself for a time, and while Budge and 
Toddy washed I just sat and watched them. When 
Toddy had finished, to my great surprise he came 
over and started to wash me too. I suppose he 
thought I hadn’t been properly taught because I 
sat and watched him instead of washing myself. 
But I soon showed him that he was mistaken, and I 
have ever since strictly observed the rule of wash- 
ing after meals. 

They say folks wash before meals, and that only 
cats wait until afterward. The reason for this is, 
as I have heard, that once a cat had caught a nice 
fat mouse, and was just going to make a dinner of 
her, when Mousie said : “ Shame on you, to eat 
without first washing yourself.” So the cat stopped 
to wash ; and while she did so, Mousie ran back 
into her hole. 

When Budge and Toddy saw that I had really 
come amongst them to stay they wanted to know 
where I had come from, and I very gladly told 
them. As I talked about my proud and beautiful 
Virginia mother, and my sweet little mistress, Miss 
Virgie, and her playhouse, they kept moving closer 
and closer to me ; and when I finished, Toddy said 


Budge and Toddy 25 

he hoped I would stay, and that he and Budge 
would do all they could to make it pleasant for me. 
They both begged me to forgive them for their 
spiteful conduct in the early morning ; from that 
time on they acted very kindly toward me, and I 
was permitted to join them in their play. 

I soon found that they had many cozy corners 
all around the yard, as well as in the house, and 
one of our favorite places was under the porch, 
where we used to go for safety. You may wonder 
what I mean by “ safety,” when we have such a 
kind mistress and such a good home. I will 
tell you. 

Mistress and the boy are away all day, and very 
often during those days when we were small, help- 
less kittens, a certain little boy would come into our 
yard and annoy us. He had no one to play with, 
and I suppose he wanted to play with us, but he 
didn’t know how. How I did wish that the “ bus ” 
would come and take him to the kindergarten. 

Whenever he came in, if we saw him in time, we 
would run as fast as we could and crawl in between 
the latticework under the porch, and hide in there 
till he had gone. 

As time went by the fur on my back and sides 


26 



became worn very short, because I had such hard 
work to squeeze through. You see I grew bigger 
every day, and the hole didn’t. 

One day our little tormentor tied a string around 
Toddy’s neck, fastened it to his velocipede, and 
then rode up and down the sidewalk, as fast as he 
could. And there is no telling how long he would 
have kept it up if a kind neighbor across the street 
had not come over and taken Toddy away from 
him. 

When mistress came home that evening, they 
told her about Eddie’s cruelty, and as she had 
warned him already many times to let her kittens 
alone, she said she would report the case to the 
“ Humane Agent.” 

I never learned what the gentleman did, but from 
that day Eddie did not trouble us for a long time, 
and we think that next to mistress and the boy, the 
Humane Agent is our best friend. 

But alas for poor Budge and Toddy ! A few 
moons after I came to my new home Toddy disap- 
peared, and we all felt very badly about it. The 
next day Budge went away, I suppose to look for 
Toddy, and he never came back. Then for several 
days mistress and the boy had such sad faces that 


Budge and Toddy 27 

it made me very unhappy. They asked the milk- 
man and the grocer and the letter-carrier to look 
out for the two kittens, but we never heard any- 
thing more of them, and I was without any com- 
panions for quite a while. 

As for me I rather enjoyed being alone, because 
mistress and the boy paid more attention to me 
than they had ever done before. At meal-time I 
was allowed to sit on a chair beside mistress, and at 
night I slept at the foot of her bed. 

But the days seemed very long, until I became 
acquainted with our neighbor’s dog, Dennis, a large 
handsome fellow with brown curly hair and beauti- 
ful brown eyes. Although Dennis had more good 
things at home than any one dog could eat, for he 
was always burying something in his yard, yet he 
came to our house daily for the little titbits that 
mistress would give to him. But having had one 
unpleasant experience with a dog I kept at a dis- 
tance from Dennis ; till one day he proved himself 
a real friend. Two saucy little curs came into my 
yard and chased me up a tree, when Dennis, with 
one bound, jumped at them and drove them away, 
and after that he and I were the best of friends. 


Ill 


MY REASONS FOR WRITING THIS STORY 

When mistress and the boy are at home, he gen- 
erally reads aloud to her and at such times I usu- 
ally sit on his lap or by his side. About the time 
Budge and Toddy went away he read a story which 
was written by “ Black Beauty,” a horse. I thought 
it was rather peculiar that a horse should write a 
story. But Black Beauty told people how to take 
care of horses, how to provide for their comfort and 
how to sympathize with them, in doing which he 
set the whole world to thinking for a time about 
nothing but horses, and in that way did them a 
very good turn. 

By the way, the boy’s name is Guy. His eyes 
are just like Miss Virgie’s, and he has beautiful 
flaxen hair. 

Before I knew Guy, I supposed all boys were 
rude and cruel, but I feel sure now that I was mis- 
taken. One of Guy’s dearest friends is Teddy, who 
was with the boy that threw stones at me on that 
28 








*'• 





Guy 












































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My Reason for Writing this Story 29 

sad day when I was a homeless cat. Teddy came 
to see Guy quite often, but he always treated me 
very kindly. I really think it a pity that he should 
ever have been with that cruel boy. 

After Guy had finished reading the story of 
Black Beauty, he read one written by a dog, 
" Beautiful Joe.” I saw his picture in the book, but 
I did not think him half as beautiful as my friend 
Dennis that visits me every day. But Joe had a 
beautiful spirit, and that counts far more than a 
beautiful body. Who could read of the cruel blows 
and kicks and all the other insults which he suffered 
so patiently at the hands and feet of old Jenkins, 
without feeling in his inmost soul that henceforth 
he would defend and protect all helpless and harm- 
less creatures ? In this way Joe conferred a lasting 
benefit upon his fellow-dogs, and even I, who am 
only a cat, with no natural fondness for dogs, must 
say that I learned many things from Joe that made 
me have more respect for dogs. I also became 
filled with a desire to be as good and useful a cat as 
Joe was a dog, and it was during those long, lone- 
some days when I was without any companions that 
the thought came to me about writing this story. 
May be you think a cat does not even have thoughts. 


30 Pussy Meow 

How dreadful ! Well, I thought if dogs and horses 
can write stories, why can’t I ? And so I concluded 
to try. 

I had often heard mistress read stories about cats, 
cat shows and cat clubs, but it was always about 
Persian cats and Angoras, and I made up my mind 
that my story should be about tigers and Maltese 
and black cats, because they are considered to be 
of so very little importance. I have known of 
many a poor, sick cat just treated as a nuisance, and 
compelled to stay outdoors ; whereas then, if ever, 
she needs a warm, comfortable place, and nourish- 
ing food. 

And when a cat has kittens, she is usually put 
into the barn, or the basement, if tolerated in the 
house at all. Now very few kittens will learn or- 
derly habits when raised in a place where they can 
do as they please ; and when such a kitten is taken 
into a home it causes no end of trouble. In many 
cases it is abused and made very miserable, not for 
any fault of its own, but because it has not been 
properly trained. This is one reason why there are 
so many poor tramp cats. Another reason is, that 
some people will let a cat raise five or six kittens 
without paying any attention to her needs as to 



My Friend Dennis 














- 

























My Reason for Writing this Story 31 

food or shelter, and the poor things somehow live, 
or rather, they exist. Then when nobody wants 
them, as is always the case with kittens raised in 
this way, they are given to the milkman or to some 
farmer to be “ strayed ” out in the country, where 
no other fate awaits them but slow starvation. In 
a case like this, five cents’ worth of chloroform ad- 
ministered to the kittens at the time of birth, leav- 
ing only one alive for the mother cat, would have 
saved them from the terrible tortures of starvation. 

Then too some people who are very kind-hearted 
themselves, have cruel servants who look upon a 
pet in the household as an added burden, and who 
will utterly neglect, if not positively abuse them. 
Right here I am reminded of an incident told to 
mistress by a young lady who called one evening. 
She was doing some writing for a minister, and she 
said that almost daily her feelings were wrought up 
at sight of an old black cat, gaunt looking, half- 
starved, and with a broken leg, hobbling around in 
the yard. “ To-day,” said she, “ I had some milk 
left over from my lunch, and I asked the cook for 
the cat’s dish.” 

“ Cat’s dish ! the cat ain’t got no dish, throw it 
on the walk,” was the reply. “ Why,” continued 


£2 Pussy Meow 

the lady, “ I saw enough table scraps thrown into 
the garbage can each day to make a feast for that 
poor cat, and not one of the good people ever gave 
her a thought.” 

Speaking of ministers reminds me of a gentle- 
man that called on mistress one evening, and as I 
happened to be lying on the library table, they fell 
to talking about me, and about cats and dogs gen- 
erally. 

“ It’s all right,” said the gentleman, “ for people 
that can afford it, to have pets. But in my expert 
ence in visiting among all classes of people, some- 
how wherever I find a big family of half-fed and 
neglected children there are sure to be in the same 
home one or more cats or dogs, and sometimes 
both ; and of course, the food that is given to them 
ought by rights to go to the children. But the 
worst of it is, these people seem to think as much 
of their cats and dogs as they do of their children.” 

“ That is an unintended compliment,” said mis- 
tress, “ which proves the softening and humanizing 
effect of these pets upon those with whom they as- 
sociate. And certainly, this more than makes up 
for the few little extra morsels that they require for 
their maintenance.” 


My Reason for Writing this Story 33 

Now I have told you some of the things I would 
like to bring to the notice of ladies and children 
especially. Oh, if with this story I start all the 
world to think for awhile about cats — Maltese 
and tigers and black cats, that are so much ex- 
posed to suffering because within the reach of 
everybody, I shall feel that I have done some real 
good. And even if I do not write as good a story 
as did Black Beauty, or Beautiful Joe, you will at 
least know that I tried to do what I could to help 
my fellow-cats. And who knows but some cats, 
older and wiser than myself, may be encouraged by 
my effort to do more P 


IV 


A PLEASANT OUTING 

When the time came for mistress and Guy to 
take their summer outing, they did not desert me or 
leave me to the mercies of our neighbors, as has 
been the fate of many a poor cat. No; they very 
thoughtfully made the necessary provision to take 
me with them. 

When they were ready to start, they put me in a 
nice big bag, which Guy suspended over his shoul- 
der. It was a bag that mistress brought from 
Switzerland, and I have heard her say it is such a 
one as the women there carry to market when they 
go to buy provisions. It had large holes between 
the stitches so I could look through, and see what 
was going on. 

First we took a long ride on a street car and Guy 
held me on his lap. But never having been on a 
car, I was dreadfully afraid of the noise. Guy held 
me real close to his breast and talked kindly to me, 
34 


A Pleasant Outing 35 

but by the time I got over being afraid, we were at 
the end of our ride. 

When we alighted from the street car, we 
boarded a big steamboat on which we rode all 
day. Mistress allowed me to walk around a little, 
and I saw the beautiful water and the bright sun- 
shine, and some birds. How birds could live on 
the water greatly puzzled me. 

There were many people on the boat, and some 
children played with me and gave me cake and 
popcorn. I thought they must have cats at home, 
for they knew just what cats like. 

But while the children were very polite to me, 
some of the older people were just the reverse. 
For instance, there was a woman who poked her 
umbrella into my side, saying : “ There is a cat ; 
what a nuisance ! ” 

Mistress said to her very kindly : “ It is my 
kitty.” 

Then the woman asked mistress a good many 
questions about me : why she didn’t leave me at 
home ; how she could be bothered with a cat when 
traveling ; or, was it a new “ fad.” 

Mistress told her there was no one at home, and 
that she thought it cruel to desert a faithful do- 


36 Pussy Meow 

mestic animal. Furthermore, she said, I had been 
no trouble to her so far, and that this was not the 
first time she had had a cat for a traveling com- 
panion. 

Then the woman became more polite to me, and 
said I had a beautiful coat and a pleasing face. 

After a while a big girl came over to where I 
lay. She came so quickly it frightened me, and I 
got up and started to run from her, but she 
grabbed me by the tail and pulled me back. 

Of course, I cried out, not so much from pain, as 
because of the insolence of such treatment. 

“ What’s the matter, Tabby ? ” said she. 

I said “ Me-ow ” just as loud as I could. 

Mistress told her I was not used to being pulled 
around by my tail. Then the girl stroked my 
back and smoothed my fur, and I was no longer 
afraid. I think she did not mean to frighten me, 
only she didn’t know the proper way to call a cat. 

Mistress told her how I stayed at home alone 
every day when she was gone, and never ran away, 
and how I behaved so nicely on the cars. I am 
sure the girl will be a better friend to cats here- 
after. 

I had never before been in such a large crowd as 


A Pleasant Outing 37 

there was on that boat, and I could not help notic- 
ing what a difference there is in people. Some in 
passing by would look at me sneeringly, and even 
point their fingers ; some would take no notice of 
me at all ; others would smile, and still others 
would bend over and give me a gentle stroke. 
But the children — bless their dear hearts — they all 
had good words for me, and some gave me some- 
thing even better. 

As the sun was going down we arrived at a place 
where the boat stopped and everybody got off. 
Guy put me into my nice bag, and the next thing I 
knew we were in a large room in a great big 
strange house that they called a hotel. Guy got 
me a saucer of milk for my supper, and I slept all 
night on mistress’ bed. 

The next morning we started out right after 
breakfast and took a long ride in a carriage. I 
noticed after we had ridden a while that it was a 
very long distance between houses. Finally we 
stopped at a nice white cottage with green blinds, 
standing in a yard that was so long I could not see 
the next house. They called it a farm. 

The weather being terribly hot, the long ride in 
the carriage had made me very ill ; I could hardly 


38 Pussy Meow 

get my breath, and I was dizzy. I lay in the 
orchard under an apple tree, and mistress sat be- 
side me, wondering what to do. Finally she 
poured some castor oil down my throat, which 
tasted very unpleasant ; but in a few hours I was 
all right again, and after that I had a delightful 
time. 

There were two big cats on the farm ; one white 
and the other yellow ; and as they had no name, 
only “ Kitty,” mistress named the white one 
“ Blanche ” and the yellow one “ Goldie.” 

They did not like me at first ; in fact they acted 
just like Budge and Toddy did when I came to live 
with my mistress. But the next morning mistress 
took us all in her lap and petted us for a long time ; 
then she gave us some nice warm milk in a big 
saucer, and we ate breakfast together; and after 
that Blanche and Goldie were more friendly towards 
me. But we did not see much of each other, for 
they spent most of their time out in the field. 
Their “ corner ” was a big market-basket on the 
kitchen porch ; but I did not have to share it with 
them, because I always slept on my mistress’ bed. 

This reminds me of a wicked slander on cats 
that I have heard, namely, that it is not safe for 


A Pleasant Outing 39 

people to sleep in the same room with them for 
fear they will suck their breath and cause them to 
suffocate. The only foundation for this is that cats 
love warmth. When sleeping in a cold room they 
will seek out the warmest place they can find, and 
if that happens to be near a person’s face, they are 
apt to go there ; not because they want to suck the 
breath, but simply because they love the warmth 
that emanates with the breath. 

An old gentleman lived on the farm whom Guy 
called grandpa, and an old lady whom he called 
grandma, whose portraits I had often seen in 
mistress’ room. Grandpa was abed most of the 
time, and was visited every day by a man they 
called “ Doctor.” It was he who told mistress to 
give me castor oil. 

One day mistress took me into grandpa’s room 
and said, “ Father, this is Meow the Second.” Al- 
though grandpa was too ill to say much to me, 
still I knew from the kind look on his face, and 
from his gentle touch, that he was a friend of cats. 
“ I’m very glad to see Meow, but don’t hurt Watch’s 
feelings,” was all he was able to say, and pretty 
soon mistress took me out. 

Watch was a big shepherd dog that had lived on 


40 


Pussy Meow 

the farm for many years. He wanted to be in 
grandpa’s room all the time. When he was ad- 
mitted he would lie down alongside the bed, and 
look straight at grandpa all the while, till he was 
ordered out, and then he just went as far as the 
door and lay down. There he would stay all day, 
and unless his food was brought to him, he would 
go hungry. 

Watch never did me any harm, but he wasn’t as 
friendly with me as Dennis. He barked at all 
strangers, but never hurt anybody. 

In front of the house was a very large maple 
tree under which mistress stretched her hammock, 
and there in the cool shade we spent many happy 
days ; but Guy spent most of his time at the neigh- 
bors helping the boys do their chores. 


V 


SOME EXPERIENCES ON THE FARM 

I had never seen any chickens until I visited 
grandpa’s farm, so one day shortly after our 
arrival I went into the chicken-coop to make them 
a visit. 

A hen was sitting on a lot of eggs, and I had no 
intention of disturbing her. But when she saw me 
she began a terrible cackling, and flew away. Then 
I went up and sat on the eggs myself ; but in a few 
minutes the big rooster came to the coop, followed 
by nearly all the other roosters and the hens, and 
such a cackling and crowing I never heard in all my 
life. It seemed as if every one of the seventy fowl 
in the barnyard would cry themselves hoarse. I con- 
cluded that I was not a welcome visitor, so I left 
the nest and jumped out of the window. I thought 
it best not to go through the door with all those 
cacklers in wait for me. 

The stable was empty, because Elsa the cow, and 
41 


42 


Pussy Meow 

Kate the horse, were out in the pasture. Elsa had 
large brown eyes and a beautiful brown coat with a 
white star on her forehead, and she was very gentle. 
Guy generally rubbed her back and sides and shooed 
off the flies while grandma milked her, and we cats 
were always on hand at milking time. Just as soon 
as grandma had finished she would always pour 
some milk into our saucer, and it tasted just about 
like our city milkman’s cream. (Once when Guy 
came home from school he filled my saucer out of 
the cream pail, and that’s how I know what city 
cream tastes like.) 

Elsa had once been the queen of a large milk- 
herd, and she seemed very proud of her old Swiss 
cow-bell which always hung at her neck, suspended 
from a leather strap. Whenever it was time to 
bring her in from the pasture, grandma or Guy 
would take a little bucket containing salt, and stand 
up on the fence and show it to Elsa. Then as 
soon as she saw it she would come right along ; 
and, of course, she was always given some salt as 
soon as she reached the barnyard. 

It was Kate that brought us out from the steam- 
boat landing on that dreadfully hot summer day. 
There was no real hard work for her to do on the 


Some Experience on the Farm 43 

farm. But she had served grandpa so well during 
the years of her strength, that, although no longer 
needed, still she was allowed to remain and enjoy 
the rest and quiet. All the neighbors seemed to 
know and respect her, and whenever any of them 
passed by, she would go up to the fence and 
whinney, in response to their greeting. Elsa was 
her constant companion in the pasture, and their 
lot was indeed a happy one. 

Another animal on the farm was Billy, the pig, 
though I am sorry to say his place was so uninvit- 
ing I did not care to visit him very often. But 
really, poor Billy was not to blame ; his “ pen ” was 
so small, and there was no way for him to get out 
when he wanted to ; how could he keep it clean 
and tidy ? 

Why he was singled out to be treated as a pris- 
oner, when all the other animals on the farm were 
free to roam at will, was more than I could under- 
stand, unless it was because grandpa was too ill to 
attend to him. As I used to see Billy stare through 
the cracks in the walls of the narrow gloomy prison 
that shut him away from the great, beautiful world, 
and as I listened to his ceaseless grunting, I could 
not help but pity him. Although I did not under- 


44 Pussy Meow 

stand his language, I felt sure that he must be com- 
plaining of his unhappy lot. 

“ How I wish that somebody would write a book 
for Billy,” said mistress to Guy one day, as they 
were passing his place, “ so that people would be 
made to think how unjustly he is being treated.” 

“ Yes,” said Guy, “ it’s just as easy to have pigs 
in clover as in a pen. Have I never told you about 
the excellent arrangement Uncle Ellison has on his 
farm ? ” 

“No, you did not; what is it?” said mistress, 
eagerly. 

“ Well,” said Guy, “ his pig yard is quite a good 
sized enclosure, extending at the rear into a little 
grove where the pigs can lie in the cool shade when 
it is hot. Adjoining this is a similar enclosure, 
and every year the pigs are changed from one field 
to the other, and the one last used by the pigs is 
plowed up and sown to clover. In this way they 
have a clean, wholesome and comfortable place all 
the time.” 

“ This explains why Uncle Ellison gets a higher 
price for his hogs than any farmer around there,” 
said mistress. “ If grandpa were well, I would tell 
him about it; but perhaps you could make Billy 


Some Experience on the Farm 45 

just a little happier by spading up the ground 
inside of his pen.” 

“Yes,” said Guy; “and perhaps the neighbor’s 
boys will help me.” 

So the next day the boys locked Billy into the 
corn-crib while they turned the ground in his pen 
with spades and freshened it; the trough was 
scalded and scrubbed, and left in the sun to dry. 
When Billy was led back to his pen, he grunted his 
thankfulness to his friends the best he knew how. 
As for me, I concluded to put Uncle Ellison’s plan 
into my story ; for who knows but some of the boys 
who read it may be farmers some day, and will 
want to try it ? 

While we were at grandpa’s one of his neighbors’ 
hogs was taken sick, and the man brought six lit- 
tle white pigs up to grandpa’s because he wished 
to separate them from their mother, for fear they 
too might catch the disease. I never saw anything 
prettier than those little pigs, and they were just as 
clean as so many kittens. The man put them into 
an old pen not far from Billy’s, and there they 
squealed and grunted to their hearts’ content, and 
stuck their noses through every little crack in the 
pen. I noticed that some of the boards were loose 


46 Pussy Meow 

so that they could wiggle them up and down, and 
each one tried to make them wiggle a little more 
than the others had done before him. One day at 
dinner time, when I was in my usual place on the 
window-sill, suddenly I saw a white streak shooting 
through the orchard and out into the road, and just 
then Guy jumped up and said : “ There go the 
pigs.” 

They had succeeded in loosening one of the 
boards and making their escape, and the last I saw 
of them they were running down the road to their 
mother as fast as they could, leaving a big cloud of 
dust behind them. 

This set me to thinking on pigs in general, and 
I concluded that they are by nature intelligent and 
clean, and like the rest of us, all they want is a 
chance. 


VI 


HOME AGAIN 

One morning very early mistress packed up her 
things and Guy’s, and Kate was hitched up to the 
carriage and brought up to the side of the house. 
Everybody was very sad; and I couldn’t under- 
stand what it all meant, till I saw mistress and Guy 
bid grandpa good-bye. Grandpa was still lying in 
bed, with Watch by his side, and they were all 
crying. 

Blanche and Goldie were just ready to go out 
into the field, but they stopped to bid me good- 
bye, and said they were sorry to have me go now 
that they had got acquainted with me ; and they 
hoped that another summer I would visit them 
again. 

I was put into my bag as usual ; and Guy took 
me with him into the carriage. Kate took us to 
the boat landing; and in a short time we were 

afloat on the beautiful blue water. 

47 


48 Pussy Meow 

The boat was crowded with people, and it was 
very warm. I was tired and wanted to sleep, so 
mistress took me into her stateroom, where I lay 
on the bed and had a nice rest. Soon after I 
awoke we reached a place where we alighted and 
took dinner at a large hotel. Guy carried the bag 
in which I was, suspended over his shoulder by a 
leather strap, and when he was seated at the table 
he slipped the bag over my head and fed me on his 
lap. You must remember that at that time I was 
still a kitten, about half grown. 

After dinner we sat on the lawn in front of the 
hotel, and I was allowed to run around at will till it 
was time to return to the boat. I was listening to 
the music of the band, when I espied on the piazza 
a poodle dog. As soon as he saw me, he came 
down the steps and I, thinking to exchange greet- 
ings with him, walked over to meet him. I don’t 
know whether he objected to the curve in my 
back, or the jug handle shape of my tail, but evi- 
dently Mr. Poodle was not in the habit of meeting 
lady cats. Instead of responding to my greeting 
in a gentlemanly manner, he bent low on his fore- 
legs and barked at me. 

At this I showed him the color of my teeth, and 


Home Again 49 

the length of my claws, and he immediately re- 
treated, his tail drawn tightly between his legs. 

“What next?” you say. Well, I chased some 
grasshoppers, and caught a fly or two, and by that 
time we had to return to the boat to resume our 
journey. 

At the hotel mistress met some friends, who 
were going on the same boat, and welcome ones 
they were, for they were the first people we had 
met on our entire journey that did not “ exclaim ” 
at seeing a cat in the party. 

The one I liked best of all was Miss Wallace, a 
very lovely young lady, who held me on her lap 
nearly all the time. I was very thankful to her, for 
it was better than being out where I would get my 
tail pulled and umbrellas poked into my side. Miss 
Wallace told us about her kitty at home, Nellie, of 
purest white ; and she said she was just homesick 
to see her, because she had been away over a 
week. 

“ I suppose, of course, you left her in somebody’s 
care,” said mistress. 

“ Yes, indeed,” said Miss Wallace, “ I would not 
think of such a thing as leaving her uncared for.” 

I was not at all surprised to hear Miss Wallace’s 


5 ° 


Pussy Meow 

answer, for I knew the moment I saw her gentle 
face and soft brown eyes, that she had a tender and 
sympathetic heart. I think I must have taken a 
nap on her lap, for it seemed in a very little while 
the boat stopped at the landing whence I had 
started on my first trip a few weeks before. 

The street cars took us quickly to the little 
brown house on Poplar Avenue, which is dearer to 
me than any farm, hotel, or floating palace that I 
have ever seen. Dennis received us with a joyous 
bark, and with that merry wag of his tail which 
speaks such volumes of happiness. My cushion, 
my pad, and the dear sunny porch were more pre- 
cious to me than ever before. Only one thing 
worried me! I had grown too big for the hole 
through which I used to crawl in under the porch, 
and wondered where I would go for safety in case 
of danger. But I soon found that Dennis was all 
the “ safety ” I needed, for he stayed with me 
nearly all the time ; and whenever any bad boys or 
dogs came into our yard he promptly chased them 
out with that powerful bark of his. And I found 
him to be a very useful as well as agreeable com- 
panion. 

There is a beautiful song which I have often 


Home Again 51 

heard, that there is no place like home, but I never 
really understood the meaning of those words until 
I had been away from my home and my friend. 

So you see I was doubly thankful, first because 
mistress took me with her on her vacation, and 
second because I had such a happy home-coming. 


VII 


NEW COMPANIONS 

One morning soon after we returned from the 
farm Guy brought into the house, dripping wet, a 
little Maltese kitty, which he said he found crying 
in a vacant lot on his way to school. My heart 
went out to the poor little thing, shivering with 
cold and frightened, and coming from no one knew 
where. 

Mistress rubbed the kitty’s coat dry with a towel, 
and smoothed it all out with a coarse comb. Then 
she fixed her a nice warm bed in a little basket, and 
in a short time she dozed off into a nap. As I sat 
looking at the little stranger I was reminded of the 
time when I was taken into this dear home in just 
about as sorry a plight, and 1 made up my mind to 
give her a better welcome than I had received from 
Budge and Toddy. 

Her nap over, the little kitty looked as plump 
and bright as anything, and mistress named her 

“ Beauty.” She was a talkative little creature, and 
52 


53 


New Companions 

before the day was over had told me her whole his- 
tory. Said she, “ My home is in a grocery store, 
where I have been living with my mother and three 
other kittens in a barrel. This morning our master 
gave me to a boy to take home to his sister. But 
he squeezed me so hard, I scratched him, and then 
he threw me out on the wet grass and walked 
away.” 

“ How cruel,” said I, “ but don’t think that all 
boys are like him, for I know some that are just as 
kind as anybody.” 

“ Then I tried to go back and find my mother,” 
said Beauty, “ and I went up to the door of a place 
that looked like my home, but as I stood there cry- 
ing, a man came out and picked me up very 
harshly, and threw me out onto the sidewalk. It 
seemed as if all the world were against me, and I 
tried to crawl away to a place where no one would 
find me, when a boy came along who picked me up 
very tenderly, and it was he who brought me here.” 

I told Beauty of my own experience as a home- 
less cat and bade her be thankful that she had 
fallen into such good hands. 

During the evening we played together by the 
beautiful moonlight, but all at once I missed her, 


54 Pussy Meow 

and when mistress called us in for the night I was 
the only one to respond. I have no doubt that 
Beauty went to look for her mother. 

After Budge and Toddy left, mistress tied a 
pretty colored ribbon around my neck, with the 
street and number, 127 Poplar Avenue, plainly 
written on it in black ink. She had also tied one 
around Beauty’s neck, and for this reason she ex- 
pected that Beauty would be returned. But we 
looked for her in vain. 

One evening when mistress and Guy were talk- 
ing about Beauty, mistress said : “ I presume she 
has found a home ; I only hope it is a good one.” 

“ I don’t think it is,” said Guy. “ Anybody that 
would steal a cat would not treat her well after he 
got her.” And I think he was right, for it was just 
as bad as stealing, to keep a cat that had the street 
and number written on his necktie. How foolish 
Beauty was to leave such a good home. 

Not many days after Beauty’s departure, a little 
girl brought us a light colored tiger kitty, which 
she said she had found in front of a vacant house, 
cold and hungry, and she brought her to us because 
she thought it was our little Beauty. 

Mistress petted the little thing, and praised the 


New Companions 55 

little girl for being so kind and thoughtful in try- 
ing to find its home. She asked the little girl to 
take it to her own home and keep it, but she said 
her mother would not permit her to have a kitty 
because they lived in a flat, or she would be only 
too glad to keep it. So then, rather than have the 
little thing turned out without a home, mistress al- 
lowed it to remain, and she named it “ Beauty ” 
after the last one. 

On the following morning one of our neighbors, 
having seen two strange kittens in the yard 
within so short a time, said to mistress : “ What 
are you keeping over there, a cat refuge, or a hos- 
pital ? ” 

“ Why both,” said mistress. “ I wouldn’t turn a 
stray cat away, much less a sick one.” 

The lady said no more. 

The little stranger seemed so thankful for a nice 
warm basket (I shared mine with her) she hardly 
left it the entire day, except to go to her meals. 
She would lap a whole saucer full of milk, and ask 
for more, and mistress fed her till she had all she 
wanted. I tried to find out where she had lived, 
but she seemed to feel so grieved at the way she 
had been treated, that it was fully three days before 


56 Pussy Meow 

she finally consented to talk about it. Then she 
told me that the folks all left the house and all the 
things were loaded on a wagon and taken away. 
Said she, “ I waited day after day on the doorsteps 
hoping they would come back. All I had to eat 
was what I could find in the ash pile, and nights I 
crawled into an old stovepipe.” 

This was so much worse than anything I had 
ever experienced, or even heard of, I hadn’t a word 
to say in reply. 

But evidently the cold and hunger that she had 
suffered had had their effect on little Beauty. Al- 
though she had the best of care, still a few days 
later she was taken so very ill one night that it 
caused her to groan most pitifully ; and in the morn- 
ing when Guy came down, her lifeless form lay on 
the floor, cold and stiff. 

Mistress very tenderly wrapped the little dead 
body in some soft white tissue paper, and put it in 
a box, and Guy buried it in the rear of the yard, 
marking the spot with a stake on which he printed : 

“ Sacred to the Memory of Beauty.” 

Then mistress planted some mignonette and pan- 
sies on the spot, and Guy fenced it in with pieces 


New Companions 57 

of arched wire, so that it made a nice little flower- 
bed. 

After it was all over I heard mistress say to Guy : 
“ Aren’t you glad we have been kind to this little 
creature during the few days of her life that she was 
with us ? ” 

“ I was just thinking how sorry I would be if I 
hadn’t been kind to her,” said Guy. “ Yesterday 
when she whined so I was tempted to put her out, 
but I am glad now I didn’t ; I guess she was sick 
then.” 

“ Yes,” said mistress, “when animals act ill-na- 
tured or fretful, it is generally because they are not 
well ; and instead of being impatient with them, we 
ought to be all the more tender, and see whether 
we cannot find out the cause of their trouble, and 
relieve them.” 

For several days after Beauty’s death I was again 
without a companion, but I wasn’t so lonesome as 
at first when Budge and Toddy went way, because 
I had Dennis ; and besides, it was still lovely sum- 
mer weather. I used to sit on the window-ledge 
and watch for the school-children to come by ; and 
when I saw them, it made me very happy, for I 
knew then that I would soon see my friend Guy. 


58 Pussy Meow 

As soon as he came into the yard I’d jump down 
and go into the house with him, and generally he 
would give me some of his bread and milk. Then he 
would practice a while on his violin, and I dearly 
loved to listen to the music. Sometimes he would 
mow the lawn and water it. He always had every- 
thing very nice for mistress when she came home. 
If only he could have stayed at home all day, Den- 
nis and I couldn’t have wished for a dearer com- 


panion. 


VIII 


BUDGE AND TODDY THE SECOND 

About a month after the death of Beauty, a little 
girl came one day with four tiny kittens in a basket, 
some tigers and some Maltese, and I heard her beg 
mistress to adopt one of them. 

Mistress said at first that she did not care for any 
more cats. But the little girl was so persistent, and 
the kittens in the basket looked so bright and 
pretty, mistress was persuaded to take a closer look 
at them ; and as I saw her take them up and fondle 
them, I felt pretty sure what the result would be. 

“ I will take two,” said she, “ for if I should take 
but one away from her companions and from her 
mother, it would get lonely and homesick ; besides, 
a little girl who tries to get good homes for helpless 
kitties ought to be encouraged.” 

This made the little girl very happy, for she knew 
her kittens would have a good home with mistress ; 
and she went away with only two remaining in the 
basket. 


5a 


6o 


Pussy Meow 

My new companions were named Budge and 
Toddy, after the two that had left us. I became 
friendly with them at once, for I had learned by this 
time that mistress was a good judge of cats, and 
that I was perfectly safe in associating freely with 
those of her choice. The only unpleasant thing 
about Budge and Toddy was, they had fleas, and, of 
course, I was visited by some of them ; but after a 
few baths with Spratt’s soap we got quite rid of 
them. I will tell you how it was done, for mistress 
seemed to know just the right way. 

First she made a nice warm suds, and saturated 
our necks thoroughly with it. She called this the 
“ dead line ” because the fleas could not crawl into 
our eyes, but had to stay back and be drowned. 
Then she rubbed the suds into the skin all over our 
bodies, and used a coarse comb so as to have it pen- 
etrate the fur clear to the skin, carefully shielding 
our eyes. Guy always assisted by holding us while 
she did the washing. He would hold the front legs 
in one hand and the hind legs in the other, which 
gave mistress complete control of the body as it lay 
in the suds, and Guy would turn it as she directed. 

After we were thoroughly washed, mistress rinsed 
us off in plenty of clean warm water, wiped us dry 


Budge and Toddy the Second 61 

with a Turkish towel, and gave us a good combing. 
Then we lay on our cushions in a sunny spot of the 
room, and in winter time she put the cushion near 
the register. When dry, she set us on a big news- 
paper, and gave us a thorough brushing, and it was 
surprising how the dead fleas would drop out. Then 
she folded the paper and burned it. After three 
such baths the troublesome little things completely 
disappeared. 

Budge is a Maltese, very short and fat, with 
shaggy coat, short bushy tail, and a white “ breast- 
pin.” 

Toddy is long and slender, with a smooth, soft 
coat and a long tail. He is a tiger cat like my- 
self. He is livelier and more mischievous than 
Budge, and in a tussle generally comes out ahead. 

Many times I have seen Budge quietly sitting on 
his cushion, perhaps watching a fly, or purring con- 
tentedly to himself, not suspecting any harm or 
danger, when Toddy, stealthily aiming from a dis- 
tance, would jump upon him so suddenly as to 
almost take his breath away. Then they would 
roll over the floor, first one on top, then the other, 
biting, kicking and mauling each other, until the 
peaceful room was turned into a veritable arena. 


62 


Pussy Meow 

One round was scarcely finished before another was 
started. By turns they would hump their backs, 
turn down their ears, bristle their tails, or sway 
them swiftly to and fro, all the while eyeing each 
other with most defiant expression. At last the 
pent-up tempest breaks forth, but the battle proves 
too fierce for Budge and after several more rounds 
he seeks refuge on a chair only to find himself 
further pursued. The chair has a cane seat, and 
Toddy makes a fresh attack from beneath. 

At last when it is all over, Toddy meekly kisses 
his victim, and says : “ Never mind, Budge, you 
know I was only in fun.” 

One morning when we were up in mistress’ 
room, she made a deep dent in our cushion and put 
Budge into it. He was then still very small, and 
it looked as if he was sitting in a little cave with 
only his head outside. 

Pretty soon Toddy came along, and when he 
saw Budge in so snug a place, he walked all around 
him viewing him from every side. It was a rather 
cool morning, and he wanted to get in there too. 
But seeing there was not enough room by the side 
of Budge he got in front of him and began caress- 
ing him and washing his face and neck. Budge 


Budge and Toddy the Second 63 

liked this so well that he moved closer and closer 
to Toddy, and in so doing got partly out of his 
cave. 

This was just what Toddy wanted. When by 
means of his cunning scheme, he had tempted 
Budge out far enough, he put his paw behind him, 
and with a masterly shove, ousted him from the 
coveted place, and backed into it himself. 

I have always thought that Budge laid this trick 
of Toddy’s up in a corner of his little heart; for, 
although he seemed to take it good-naturedly at 
the time, yet he lay in wait when Toddy came 
down the stairs. But it seemed as though Toddy 
was expecting something of the kind, for the mo- 
ment Budge advanced toward him, Toddy jumped 
up in the air, and Budge shot through under him 
as though darting through an arch, so swiftly that 
he ran pell-mell into a basin of water which was 
being used to clean the floor. 

“ The charge of the Light Brigade,” said Guy, 
coming down the stairs behind Toddy. 

“ No, it’s the Battle of Waterloo,” replied mis- 
tress. 

With such playful companions as these, you can 
imagine what delightful times I have had. 


IX 


A HAPPY HOME 

Every morning after breakfast mistress reads in 
a book called the “ Bible,” and when she closes it, 
they both kneel down in the bay window while she 
talks to the chair. Sometimes when the sun shines 
so nice and warm upon her back, I just jump up 
there and have a nice purr, which always makes 
Guy laugh. 

Some of the stories they have read in the Bible 
were about men and women and children and goats 
and sheep and cattle. I have listened breathlessly 
many times for something about cats, but so far 
not one has been mentioned. But perhaps those 
things all happened before there were any cats. 
One time the story was about an old man who 
died leaving six daughters 1 and they were afraid 
that because they had no big brothers they would 
not get their share. So they went to Moses, their 
captain, and asked him about it, and he said that 

1 Vid. Numbers xxvii. 1-8. 

64 


A Happy Home 65 

they should have their share just the same as if 
they were sons, instead of daughters. After the 
story was finished mistress asked Guy, as she 
usually did, what that meant, and what he had 
learned from it. He studied for quite a while be- 
fore he answered her, then he said, “ Well, I guess 
that means women’s rights.” 

Another time they were reading about a very 
great king who sat on a throne, and a queen from 
another country who had heard about his wonder- 
ful wisdom came to ask him a very hard question 
to see whether what she had heard was true . 1 

“ What was the question she asked ? ” said Guy, 
after the reading was finished. 

“ I don’t know,” said mistress ; “ the Bible does 
not tell us what it was.” 

“ I think I know what it was,” said he. “ She 
asked him ‘ who made God ? ’ ” 

After they have spent a half hour or so in this 
way, they lock up the house and go away ; but they 
always leave a nice lunch for us, and a dish of fresh 
water. 

I know of many poor cats that never get a drop 
of water at home. They have to go and hunt for 
1 Vid. I Kings x. I. 


66 


Pussy Meow 

it in ditches and puddles, and then are blamed for 
not keeping a clean, soft, fluffy coat. Anybody 
ought to know that we can’t be expending moisture 
through our tongue, washing and scrubbing our 
coats, unless we can drink water whenever we want 
it. Some people think it answers the purpose just 
as well if they give us milk, and dear knows it’s 
true enough of the milk that some cats get. But 
we would prefer to have our milk straight, and our 
water likewise. 

Our principal food is fresh boiled meat, mashed 
potatoes, and milk, and in summer-time we also get 
sweet peas, asparagus, beans and corn. Once a 
week we get salmon mixed with bread crumbs or 
mashed potatoes. 

Once I came very near getting into trouble 
through my fondness for canned beans. I saw a 
can on the ash pile, and in trying to get what beans 
were left in the bottom I got my nose in too far. 
Imagine my shame, when I could not get it out 
again, and was obliged to go about with a tin can 
for a muzzle till Guy came home and took it off. 

In pleasant weather our food is left on the kitchen 
porch, which, with our pads and cushions looks like 
a little summer parlor. There we stay in the bright 


A Happy Home 67 

sunshine, or we play in the grass, climb the fences, 
play hide-and-seek and roll in our catnip bed. 

In cold weather a window is left open into the 
basement so we can go down to the nice warm 
furnace room, where we have a great big clothes- 
basket lined with a clean soft pad. Mistress knows 
that cats, like other creatures, want a bed long 
enough so they can stretch themselves out full 
length when they feel like it. 

Of course, we sometimes sleep in other places 
beside our basket. For awhile an old cap of Guy’s 
lay on the basement floor, and I used to cuddle up 
in it to take my nap, because it just fitted me. One 
day I was just nicely settled in it when Toddy came 
and lay on top of me, and no sooner had we got 
ourselves nicely fixed for a nap than Budge came 
crawling over both of us, trying to get on top of 
Toddy. But Toddy’s body was too round and his 
coat too smooth and slippery for Budge to get a 
good hold, and after sliding off several times he 
finally went and took his nap in an old sprinkling 
can. 

After supper we have the greatest frolic of the 
day in the library. In his kittenhood Toddy was a 
great athlete, and whenever a certain chair with a 


68 


Pussy Meow 

very high back happened to be near enough, he 
would climb to the top of it and mount the high 
bookcase, from which he would look down at the 
rest of us with a very victorious air. 

One evening Budge watched him from mistress’ 
lap, his little breast swelling with ambition to do 
likewise. The moment Toddy alighted, Budge 
mounted the high-back chair, and craned his neck 
toward the desired spot. But he evidently thought 
it too great a risk; for he gave mistress a very 
pleading look which had the desired effect ; she 
moved the chair closer, and Budge scrambled up its 
back, whence, with a bold leap, he easily spanned 
the space to the bookcase. 

On the top shelf are the pictures of some of our 
friends. Miss Willard received his most respectful 
attention, I suppose because she was the mistress 
of the wonderful “ Tootsie ” we have all heard 
about. Tender, lingering glances were also be- 
stowed upon our little friends Don and Winifred. 
But the beautiful and charming Mrs. Cleveland re- 
ceived his fondest admiration. So proudly did he 
sway his bushy tail when standing in her presence 
that several persons of less distinction were sent 
reeling to the floor. Then, having been associated 


A Happy Home 69 

for a little while in his life with great people he 
sought his humble lodging behind the cook-stove 
and took a nap. 

One of my favorite places used to be on top of 
the wash-stand in the bath-room. One day after 
Guy had finished washing he left the water running 
just a little tiny stream into the wash-bowl. I 
thought it was a string, and in trying to catch it I 
fell, and in an instant I was flat on my back in the 
bottom of the bowl. I struggled to get on my feet 
again, but it was of no use ; the side of the bowl 
was so smooth, there was nothing that I could get 
hold of to pull myself up on, and Guy just stood 
there laughing, and calling everybody in the house 
to come and see the plight I was in. At last when 
he had had all the fun he wanted at my expense, he 
pulled me out, and I have steered clear of wash- 
bowls ever since. 

One of our dearest sports during those mirth- 
ful days was playing hide-and-seek behind the 
portieres, and chasing each other from one room 
into the other. But the race was usually of short 
duration, for first thing we knew we were all in a 
heap in the middle of the floor, and we were gen- 
erally in the midst of our frolic when the horrid 


7 ° 


Pussy Meow 

bedtime came and we had to go to our basket. 
Sometimes we hid behind the bookcases so that 
Guy couldn’t get us. But I know this wasn’t nice, 
and I feel ashamed even now for ever having done 
it. 


X 


OUR HAPPIEST DAYS 

On Saturdays mistress comes home earlier than 
usual. Then we get our coats brushed, and wiped 
off with a damp cloth, and we put on the finishing 
touches with that dexterous little scrubbing brush 
which every cat carries between his jaws. Then 
mistress changes the covers of our cushions and 
gives us clean pads. 

I always purr when mistress brushes me, to let 
her know that I like it ; and Budge likes it so well, 
he keeps turning himself so the brush will strike 
him at every point. I believe the brushing and the 
good food we get make us have such soft and 
glossy coats, and such fine bushy tails. 

One day after Budge had been thoroughly 
groomed he concluded that he would go on an ex- 
ploring tour, and, being so nice and clean, he was 
permitted to go wherever he pleased. 

First he went on mistress’ desk, and pretended 
to read a letter from grandpa; then he played a 
71 


72 Pussy Meow 

tune on the piano. But nothing seemed to satisfy 
him till he mounted the book shelves, his favorite 
resting-place, and finding a nice shiny piece of 
paper there he proceeded to lie upon it and purr 
himself to sleep. But something was evidently 
wrong about that shiny paper. He arose to go 
elsewhere but the paper went with him. You see, 
it was a sheet of fly-paper, and the fluttering noise 
it made so frightened poor Budge that he ran from 
one room to another in his frantic efforts to get 
rid of it. 

As quicky as mistress was able to get hold of the 
poor creature, she pulled the paper off, but with it 
came also a portion of Budge’s coat. This was 
such a brand new experience for Budge, he con- 
cluded to go to a quiet place to think it over ; and 
finding an old grape basket in the yard he crawled 
in and fell asleep. 

Speaking of Budge’s favorite resting-place on the 
book shelf reminds me of a story I have heard 
mistress tell about “ Roteli ” a red tiger cat away 
over in Switzerland that was fond of taking his 
naps in the oven. One day the oven door was 
shut without the cat being noticed, and a fire made 
in the stove, for the housekeeper wanted to cook 



He Crawled in and Fell Asleep 























































73 


Our Happiest Days 

dinner. She heard some dreadful, agonizing cries, 
but as she could not see the cat around anywhere, 
and being busy with her work, she paid no further 
attention. The roast was soon prepared, and as 
the housekeeper opened the oven door to put it in, 
behold there was poor Roteli lying almost lifeless 
with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Im- 
mediately the housekeeper knew just what to do : 
she sprinkled Roteli with cold water and dropped 
water on his tongue till he revived, and with the 
good care he received, regained his health and 
lived many years more. I hope that all house- 
keepers who have cats will take warning, and al- 
ways look into the oven before they close it. 

Sunday I like best of all, because then mistress 
and Guy are at home all day, except a little while 
in the morning. The first thing on Sunday morn- 
ing each of us gets a fresh ribbon tied around his 
neck and, of course, then we make ourselves very 
clean. Mistress ties the ribbon very carefully, so 
that it does not pull our hair, and she cuts the 
loops. The reason for this is, as I heard her tell 
Guy, that once a cat was jumping across a fence, 
when a loop of her ribbon was caught in one of 
the pickets; and the poor cat hung there and 


74 Pussy Meow 

miserably strangled to death, before any one came 
to her rescue. 

On pleasant Sunday afternoons Guy brings the 
porch rug and cushions out in the yard, and then 
we have what we look forward to during the whole 
week, a long visit from our mistress. 

Sometimes mistress takes us for a walk, and I 
never shall forget one pleasant moonlight evening 
when we went out with mistress and another lady. 
It was on a street that had no houses on it, only 
tall grass and catnip, and we were playing a game 
of hide and go seek, when suddenly mistress called 
us to her and picked up Toddy and me. She tried 
to get Budge, too, but he was a little stubborn ; in- 
stead of coming to her, he ran to the middle of the 
street, where a gentleman was riding, accompanied 
by a big dog. In an instant the air was full of 
howls, hisses, growls and fur, and Budge and the 
dog were all mixed up in a cloud of dust. I 
wanted to go too, but mistress held me so tightly I 
could not get away. 

The gentleman alighted from his wheel and 
called “ Hector,” but the poor dog could not get 
away just then. When he finally became disen- 
tangled he drew his tail very tightly between his 


Our Happiest Days 75 

legs and ran away as fast as he could, still howling 
piteously. 

Mistress was evidently pleased with Budge for his 
courage in so fearlessly attacking a dog much big- 
ger than himself, but she was also sorry for the poor 
vanquished dog, and said so to his master. But the 
gentleman said that the dog merely retired because 
he was too noble to attack an animal smaller than 
himself, and not at all because he considered him- 
self vanquished. 

But however that may be, I’m afraid it wasn’t 
very nice for Budge to engage in such a skirmish 
on a Sunday. 


XI 


BETSY WHITEFOOT 

Some time after Beauty’s death, one day an 
old gray cat with white toes came on our back 
porch, and helped herself to a drink of water. 
She had a distressed and hungry look, and I am 
sure she had not had a bath or a brushing in a long 
time, for her coat was very rough and soiled. 

Budge and Toddy were afraid of her, and ran 
back of the ash bin ; but I stayed to see what mis- 
tress would do. 

I noticed that in spots the hair on the cat’s body 
was entirely gone; the flesh was covered with 
bleeding sores, and her tail had scarcely any hair 
on it. 

Guy called us cats together and sent us into the 
kitchen, but we could look through the screen door 
and see what was going on. He gave the poor 
creature a big saucer of fresh warm milk, which she 
lapped up very greedily, asking for more till she 
had finished three saucers full. 

76 


Betsy Whitefoot 77 

When mistress came home she looked at the 
cat, but did not touch her. She gave Guy some 
money and a bottle and sent him to the drug store 
for some medicine. 

The poor cat was so tired she did not even wash 
after eating, but lay right down on the old door- 
mat. I think she had walked a long while before 
she found a place where she was allowed to rest. 
Before Guy returned from the store she was fast 
asleep. 

Mistress poured some of the medicine on a small 
cotton pad, and placed it by the cat’s nose. Then 
she quickly covered her up with a tub, and Guy 
sat on top of it. 

The cat whined and struggled for a few seconds, 
then gradually her breathing became heavier, but 
in less than a minute she was perfectly quiet. She 
had gone to her long and peaceful sleep, and I 
have no doubt that if she ever sees mistress in that 
beautiful place they tell about, where there are no 
homeless and hungry creatures, she will thank her 
for the kind act which ended her wretched exist- 
ence. 

The tub was not removed till the following 
morning, when Guy improvised a little casket for 


78 Pussy Meow 

the body and buried it by the side of Beauty, 
marking the spot with a stake on which he wrote : 

“ Sacred to the Memory of the Unknown Dead,” 

and mistress planted some heliotrope upon it. 

Meanwhile one of our neighbors was sitting on 
her kitchen porch in full view of the whole pro- 
ceeding, and I expected every minute that she 
would say something sarcastic about a “ cat fu- 
neral ” or a “ cat hospital,” as she had done before. 
She was busily plying the needle on her beautiful 
fancy work. As soon as mistress had finished 
planting the flowers, the lady came to the fence and 
said : 

“ I should think you would have your cats wear 
black ribbons when they are attending a funeral ; ” 
and without waiting for a reply, she held up her 
fancy work and asked mistress how she liked it. It 
was a doily stamped with a group of kittens play- 
ing ring-around the rosies, and several of the fig- 
ures had already been worked in beautiful colored 
silk. 

“ It must be pleasant, no doubt,” said mistress, 
“ to work beautiful figures of happy creatures upon 
canvas ; but 1 prefer to give joy and happiness to 


Betsy Whitefoot 79 

the living. And as for the emblem you speak of, 
to my mind flowers symbolize the transition of life 
far more fitly than do the time-worn weeds of 
mourning.” 

The lady made no answer to this at all, and 
mistress went into the house, leaving her alone 
with her fancy work. 

Before we were allowed to go on the porch 
again, it was thoroughly scrubbed with boiling 
water ; the tub was scalded, and the old mat was 
burned. 

On the following day a neighboring cat, whom I 
have since learned to know as Jack, came into our 
yard, and I noticed that he persistently sniffed 
around the little fresh mound. 

“ What is in there?” said he, after he had visited 
it for the third time. 

I told him about the sad occurrence of the day 
before. 

“ Was it a gray cat with white toes ? ” 

I told him it was. 

" Poor Betsy Whitefoot,” said Jack, in tones of 
real anguish. “ I have shared my meals with her 
ever since the Mortons went to their summer house 
in the country. A better mouser never lived than 


8o 


Pussy Meow 

Betsy, and how they could so cruelly desert her is 
more than I can understand.” 

I could plainly see that Jack was filled with 
wrath and bitterness toward the people who had 
caused his friend so much sorrow, and I suggested 
to him that we go up in one of the poplar trees 
where we could talk over the matter quietly, and 
without attracting attention. 

Jack readily assented, and when we had found a 
nice comfortable place he went on telling me more 
about the Mortons. 

“ Last winter,” said he, “ during that dreadfully 
cold spell some kittens came to Betsy, and they 
made her stay in the cold shed without even a box 
or basket, and all that she could find to lay the 
kittens on was some straw in a corner of the floor. 
Of course the poor little things all got dreadfully 
sore eyes ; two became completely blind ; and one 
by one they drooped and died, till even Betsy her- 
self told me she was thankful they were out of their 
misery, and that she hoped she would never have 
any more. And by the way, there goes Will 
Morton now,” said Jack, pointing down to the side- 
walk. “ Take a good look at him, and always 
avoid him if he comes your way.” 


Betsy Whitefoot 8l 

It was unnecessary for Jack to administer the 
caution, for the lad was no stranger to me ; indeed 
he was the very boy who pelted me with stones on 
that hapless day when I strayed away from my 
mother. I never forgot him, for from time to time 
I would see him pass our house, usually puffing 
away at a cigarette, and accompanied by rough 
looking hard-faced boys. 

Jack could not restrain himself from telling all 
that was in his heart about the dreadful Mortons. 
Said he: “ Last winter Will went on a journey 
with his uncle, and he promised faithfully to write 
to his mother twice a week. But during four 
weeks he never wrote her even a postal card. And 
many a Sunday when his mother thinks he is in 
Sunday-school, I have seen him out in the alley 
with his companions, smoking and listening to rude 
stories. It all goes to show that he has as little 
respect for her feelings as she has for those of her 
cat.” 

I was strongly tempted to tell Jack my own ex- 
perience with Will Morton, but I felt that he had 
enough of heaviness on his mind, and I tried my 
best to think of something pleasant. I told him 
how kindly mistress had received Betsy, and how 


82 


Pussy Meow 

gently she put her to sleep, and it seemed to lessen 
somewhat the grief which he felt for his departed 
friend. 

“ I am thankful,” said he, “ that there are some 
people in this world who realize that even a poor 
sick cat has some rights, and I hope that the day is 
not far off when every town and city will have a 
place where dumb animals that are deserted or lost 
or sick, can be taken in for protection and care.” 

I told him that I hoped so too, for I knew that 
only a short time ago, mistress had had an ex- 
perience which made us all feel the need of such a 
place. I heard her tell Guy of a poor sick and 
homeless pug dog she saw on the street, and how 
she stopped to put a court-plaster over a raw spot 
on his ear. Of course, the dog felt that she was 
his friend, and he followed her to her office. But 
she had no place to keep him, so she sent word to 
the Dog Hospital about it. She might have called 
the Humane Agent to come and shoot the dog, 
but she thought he was a nice animal and worth 
saving. 

Well, the hospital man came and examined the 
dog, said he was old and sick, not worth trying to 
save, and that the only thing he could do for him 


Betsy Whitefoot 83 

was to chloroform him and take him to the glue 
factory. Mistress told him to do that ; but she had 
to pay him two dollars before he would do another 
thing for the dog. A hospital of that kind is all 
right for an animal whose master is able to pay ; 
it does not as a rule help poor homeless creatures. 
My idea of a hospital is one where any animal, no 
matter how poor or sick or unsightly, is welcomed, 
and either nursed back to health or put out of its 
misery. I have heard that in some large cities 
kind-hearted people have founded such asylums. 
But we must hope and pray that good people may 
be found in every town and city, willing to devote 
a portion of their means to the relief of suffering 
animals. 


XII 


SUNSHINE AND SHADOW 

One pleasant Saturday afternoon I was awakened 
from my nap by a sound as of rustling foliage, and 
the room seemed to be suddenly filled with the odor 
of fresh violets. I opened my eyes and saw a very 
stately-looking lady, dressed in a beautiful silk gown 
and a hat that was covered with gaily colored birds, 
all having their wings spread as if about to fly away. 
She was seated in the high-back chair, and I quickly 
climbed up on it from the rear, and was just ready 
to spring upon the birds, when she gave a dreadful 
scream and ran out onto the porch. 

At this, mistress came rushing down-stairs, and 
the lady told her with frantic gestures and loud ex- 
clamations what a dreadfully rude thing I had done 
to her. Mistress led her back into the parlor, and 
got her quieted as well as she could, but presently 
Budge and Toddy, who had been napping in the 
bay-window seat, also came into the parlor. 

“ Are all of these cats yours ? ” said the lady, with 
84 


Sunshine and Shadow 85 

apparent astonishment. “ I should think they would 
be a dreadful nuisance.” 

I could see that mistress was annoyed by the 
remark, but she answered her very gently, and 
said : “ It depends on your treatment of cats, Mrs. 
Cotton, whether they will be a nuisance or a 
pleasure. I have always found them a pleasure, 
and besides, I have a special purpose in keeping 
pets.” 

“ A purpose in keeping cats ! ” exclaimed the 
lady ; “ do tell me what it is.” 

“ It is to teach my boy to be tender and humane 
toward all animals ; and as we cannot afford ex- 
pensive pets like dogs and horses, we are satisfied 
with cats.” 

“ You are the first person I ever heard speak of a 
purpose in keeping cats,” said Mrs. Cotton. “ I 
always supposed that people had cats because they 
just happened to come to them.” 

“ That is not the case with these cats,” replied 
mistress. “ We formerly lived in a flat where we 
could not keep pets, and that is one of the reasons 
why I went to housekeeping.” 

“ But do you not find it very expensive to keep 
house for just you two ? ” 


86 Pussy Meow 

“ We do,” said mistress, “ but it is the money that 
is wisely expended, after all, that brings the largest 
returns. To many people, no doubt, our modern 
flats are a great boon, affording comfort and safety 
that they could not possibly secure elsewhere. But 
to my mind, the landlord who banishes children 
from his flat is a public benefactor, however selfish 
may be his motives. A child should have a home 
in the truest sense of that precious word, a home 
with lawn and garden, with room for pets and tools 
and playthings, affording him ample opportunity to 
give wholesome expression to his feelings. It is the 
life lived day by day in the home that moulds and 
fashions a child’s character, rather than any training 
he receives in school. Spend your money right 
now in forming correct ideas, and encouraging ex- 
pression of them, rather than save it by ignoble 
economy, only to be spent later in the vain attempt 
to reform a character perverted and dwarfed 
through narrow and contracted living.” 

“ I have never before had my thoughts turned to 
this subject,” said Mrs. Cotton, looking very ear- 
nestly into mistress’ face, “ but I believe what you 
say is true. I am so thankful my children are still 
young, that I may profit by your excellent ideas. 


Sunshine and Shadow 


87 

And as for cats, I never before thought they were 
good for anything, having been brought up to think 
of them as uncanny creatures, something to be ab- 
horred and dreaded. But as my little boy has 
written Santa Claus to bring him a kitty for a 
Christmas gift, I suppose I will have to give up my 
prejudice.” 

“ It is the superstition of a by-gone age,” said 
mistress ; “ but a happier day is coming, when the 
cat will be given her rightful place as a household 
pet ; and through gentle treatment her nature will be- 
come still more refined and ennobled. N otwithstand- 
ing all that has been said about their selfish dispo- 
sition, my cats have at times shown great consider- 
ation for each other. For instance, once I gave 
them their milk in a narrow dish, where only one 
could lap at a time, and to my great surprise they 
took turns. On another occasion I had prepared 
a plate of meat for them, arranging each cat’s 
portion by itself. Budge and Meow were not 
present, so Toddy ate his portion and left theirs 
untouched.” 

“ That is certainly remarkable,” said Mrs. Cotton. 
“ I shall no longer object to having one in our 
house. But I fear we shall no sooner have become 


88 


Pussy Meow 

attached to her before she will leave us. My neigh- 
bor has had three very pretty kittens given her dur- 
ing the last six months, and not one stayed longer 
than a week.” 

“ Where does she keep them ? ” 

“ Oh, they stay around the yard, and when it’s 
cold they crawl under the barn, or if they get a 
chance they go up in the haymow.” 

“No wonder,” said mistress. “ A cat, with her 
domestic instincts, in order to become attached to 
a place, must have a cozy, comfortable corner 
somewhere in the house that she can call her very 
own. It may be nothing more than a basket with 
a pad or a cushion in it, but it must be permanently 
located in a retired corner of a comfortable room. 
A cat thus provided will become attached to her 
own peculiar furniture, and even should the family 
remove to another place, if she is carefully trans- 
ferred to the new home, and her corner is at 
once fitted up in a quiet room where she can 
be kept indoors for a few days, she will not go 
away. 

“ And while we are talking on this subject, I 
trust you will pardon me if I mention something 
that may seem very trivial to you, but which I con- 


Sunshine and Shadow 89 

sider of great importance. A cat should have a 
name, because it adds to her dignity, and com- 
mands respect for her. Moreover it enhances her 
commercial value to be thus individualized, and 
lifted above the general mass of her kind/' 

“ I am very glad to know all these things,” said 
Mrs. Cotton. “ You certainly have interested me 
in this subject as I never have been before in all 
my life.” 

Before Mrs. Cotton went away that afternoon she 
actually came over to the window-sill and gave 
Budge several gentle strokes. I suppose she chose 
Budge because he is the smallest. 

“ How docile and confiding,” said she ; “ they 
seem to know no fear at all; and such soft and 
glossy coats I never saw before.” 

“ Their confiding and docile nature is due to 
kind treatment,” said mistress, “ and the soft and 
glossy coats are the result of good food, plenty of 
fresh water and clean pads.” 

As Mrs. Cotton took her departure, it seemed as 
though her face wore a far more kindly expression 
than it did when she came in. 

Of course, I was delighted to hear all these good 
things, and especially that we cats are useful, and 


9 o 


Pussy Meow 

serving our dear mistress such a good purpose. 
May the time be near at hand when the sunshine 
of love and good-will shall chase away every 
shadow of hatred and cruelty ! 














XIII 


JACK 

Jack was a large black Manx cat that lived on 
Poplar Avenue, the friend of Betsy Whitefoot, as 
you will remember. His tail was only about an 
inch long, and his hind legs were higher than his 
front ones. 

One day when Jack’s mistress called at our house 
he followed her, and, having known him since the 
death of Betsy, I gave him a hearty welcome. 

“ Where did you get this beautiful cat ? ” said 
mistress, the moment she saw Jack. 

“ My husband brought him home one bitter cold 
day last winter,” said Mrs. Vandervere. “ He saw 
some boys chase him through an alley. The poor 
creature was so thoroughly frightened that for 
several days he stayed almost constantly behind 
the cook-stove, refusing to come out. We thought 
the boys had cut off his tail, but when I came to 
wash him I discovered that he never had one. 

When he recovered from his fright we found him 
91 


g2 Pussy Meow 

to be a very affectionate cat, and now we feel as 
though we could not do without him. Often when 
I am sewing he sits on my shoulders, and he used 
to have a fashion of pulling pins out of my waist 
with his teeth and drop them on the floor. But 
one day he pulled out a crooked pin and swallowed 
it, and by the way he acted we thought Jack would 
not be with us much longer. A raw egg, however, 
seemed to do him good, and in a few days he was 
all right again; but he has never pulled out any 
more pins.” 

Jack and I with Budge and Toddy had been 
lying in our sunny bay window, but while his mis- 
tress was still talking we two got up and went out 
into the yard. Jack went straight to Betsy’s grave 
and sniffed around a while, then he mounted the 
fence and showed me the shortest cut over to his 
house, and he also invited me to visit his catnip 
bed, in which he turned several somersaults. Then 
he led the way through the cellar window up into 
the house, and in the library beside the fireplace 
was his basket, a beautiful willow trimmed with red 
ribbons, and a soft cushion inside. Jack told me 
that was his “ corner.” After a while we went out- 
doors again, and he showed me how far he could 




He Toed Me an Interesting Story 



























Jack 


93 

jump. It was from the top of the porch railing 
to the ground ; and when I am a full-grown cat 
I expect to be able to do the same. 

After that day Jack came to see me quite often, 
and he seemed especially to enjoy our beautiful 
sunny porch, which, with its pads and cushions 
and baskets, looked very much like Miss Virgie’s 
playhouse. 

Whenever I visited Jack, we used to sit on a 
garden bench that stood in his yard, and upon 
which his mistress always left a blanket for Jack’s 
special comfort. 

Jack was a great fellow to talk about old times, 
and one day when we were enjoying a sun bath on 
the bench he told me a very interesting story. 
He said that his ancestors came from an island 
across the ocean, and that he hoped some day to 
visit that country. 

I described to him my journey last summer on 
the steamboat, and our visit on the farm, and it 
made him even more anxious to go. 

Continuing his story, Jack said that he was a 
lineal descendant of the famous cat that made a 
fortune for Richard Whittington, who was “ Thrice 
Lord Mayor of London.” 


94 Pussy Meow 

At this point I interrupted Jack to have him ex- 
plain to me the meaning of “ ancestor,” and “ lineal 
descendant.” Jack was so friendly with me, I did 
not mind asking him, and he willingly explained it 
to me. 

He said that the cat that lived with Richard 
Whittington very many years ago had a son named 
Tom ; Tom had a son named Toby ; Toby had a 
son named Jack, and so they kept on having sons 
till it finally came down to him, and that made Tom 
his ancestor, and him a lineal descendant. 

Jack then told me of some of his experiences. 
He said that his ability to catch rats used to be 
quite as good as that of his early ancestor, but that 
since he lived in his present home, he had not much 
practice, there being no rats in the neighborhood, 
except an occasional one around the ash barrel. 

I asked him where he learned the business, and 
he told me that he used to live in a down-town 
boarding-house, where he sometimes killed as many 
as twenty rats in one day. But the cook caught 
one alive one day, and tied a string around his 
neck with a little bell attached, and let him go back 
to his hole ; and the ringing of the bell so fright- 
ened the other rats that they all went away. Said 


Jack 


95 


Jack : “ My occupation was gone, and as the 
boarding-house keeper had no further use for me, 
she got some boys to chase me away.” And then 
he added with some bitterness : “ That was the way 
she rewarded me for my services.” 

I told Jack that I thought the treatment he re- 
ceived was very cruel. Indeed, I think a dose of 
chloroform administered to a cat one has no further 
use for, is much more humane than chasing him 
away, especially in cold weather. Of course, I 
didn’t tell Jack so ; and indeed I am glad it was not 
done in his case. But not every cat is so fortunate 
as to be picked up by a kind-hearted person and 
taken to a good home. 

Continuing our conversation I said to Jack : 
“ Don’t you think your present beautiful home and 
kind mistress came to you as a reward for your in- 
dustry in the boarding-house ? ” 

He said he had never thought of it in that light 
before, but that he believed it must be so, and that 
he would forgive his former mistress for her un- 
kindness. 

At this time Jack’s mistress called him into the 
house, and I returned to my home, thankful that I 
had such a genial fellow as Jack for a neighbor. 


XIV 

CHRISTMAS 

I shall never forget the delightful time we had 
on Christmas Day. 

Imagine my surprise when on a beautiful winter 
morning we were decked out the first thing with 
bright new ribbons. I knew it was not Sunday, so 
I thought it must be Christmas, having heard Guy 
say that Christmas was just like Sunday. 

After we had our ribbons tied, we were called 
into the library, and there on our bay-window seat 
was a beautiful lily plant with seven snow white 
bells on it, which filled the entire house with their 
fragrant odor. On the table stood a tree, like some 
I have seen in the country, and under the tree were 
three beautiful new pads, one orange, one blue and 
one pink, and a large willow basket with a soft 
cushion in it. Hanging on the branches of the 
tree, instead of apples or cherries as in grandpa’s 
orchard, were rubber balls, spools, and white mus- 
96 


Christmas 


97 

lin bags filled with popcorn. The spools had little 
tufts of bright colored worsted sticking out at each 
end, and they were suspended on narrow ribbon 
long enough to reach nearly to the table, which 
made it handy to play with them. The balls had 
something inside, which, when we squeezed them, 
would come out and tickle our noses, but we could 
never see the thing that came out. We used to try 
to catch it, but how could we catch a thing we 
couldn’t see ? 

After we had admired the beautiful tree for a 
while, Guy took down a bag for each of us. The 
muslin of which the bags were made was so thin 
that you could see the popcorn that was inside. 
The bags were tied at each end with pretty colored 
ribbon, which made them look just like little white 
sausages ; but how to get them open and get at the 
popcorn was what puzzled me. But cats know just 
as well as people, that “ in union there is strength,” 
so all three of us took hold of the same bag. It 
was tied with blue ribbon and belonged to Budge. 
For a while we played with the bag, each one pull- 
ing in a different direction, and in a few minutes 
the whole floor was littered over with popcorn. 
For a while we were very busy helping ourselves, 


98 Pussy Meow 

and I am sorry to say that each growled at the 
others while eating, for fear they would get the 
most : it tasted so good. 

While we were busy eating the popcorn, Dennis 
came in, wearing a beautiful new silver collar with 
his name and address : “ Dennis Hilton, 129 Pop- 

lar Avenue/’ inscribed upon it, and a yellow satin 
bow in the ring. Of course, we invited him to 
have some popcorn. But Dennis was more inter- 
ested in our new pads and basket than in the pop- 
corn, and after smelling of them all very cautiously, 
he stretched himself out on my pad at full length 
and took a nap. I was so glad he was too big for 
the basket. 

I wondered all the morning why Jack didn’t come 
over, but in the afternoon we met accidentally on 
the fence ledge, and he told me that they had also 
had a Christmas over at his place ; and he invited 
me to go over with him. 

He said that on the night before when he was 
out in his poplar tree, he saw an old gray-haired 
man with a long, white beard, and wearing a furry 
coat and cap, drive down our street in a chariot 
drawn by reindeer, and that the chariot was loaded 
with the most beautiful toys and bonbons, such as 


Christmas 


99 

children like, and that he stopped at every house in 
the neighborhood except Eddie’s. 

Said I : “ May be that’s Santa Claus, that we 

hear so much about ; but they say he always travels 
in a sleigh.” 

Jack said he guessed not, unless there was snow 
on the ground. 

By this time we had reached his yard, and he in- 
vited me in and showed me his presents. He had 
a beautiful new brass collar with “ Jack Vandervere, 
1 1 1 Poplar Avenue ” inscribed upon it. He also 
had a box of sardines which tasted perfectly deli- 
cious. 

Mistress sometimes gives us salmon and it is very 
good ; but I like sardines better because they are 
whole, and it is such fun to toss them around and 
play “ catch ” with them. If they would only wig- 
gle a little, it would be still more fun to play with 
them. 

Jack had many other presents, but the one that 
interested me most of all was a little box that sings 
when you pull a string. His mistress pulled the 
string for me, and the very first song that came out 
was one I have heard mistress sing, about an Owl 
and a Pussy Cat that went to sea and got married. 


L.of C. 


100 


Pussy Meow 

Another song that came out of the box was “ My 
Pussy has gone from her Basket.” It seemed to be 
gotten up on purpose for pussies. Perhaps if I am 
a real good cat, the little old man will bring me a 
song box some time. Next Christmas eve I shall 
watch for him from my poplar tree. 

While I was admiring Jack’s presents and listen- 
ing to the lovely music, in came Willie Cotton, car- 
rying in his arms a beautiful jet black kitten with 
amber eyes and a white “ breastpin.” It had a yel- 
low ribbon around its neck, to which was fastened 
a note, as follows 


“ Labrador, Dec. 25. 

“ Dear Willie : 

“ This will introduce to you Nicodemus. 
I have sent him to you because you belong to the 
Band of Mercy, and want some animal to love and 
care for. Fix him a comfortable place in some 
room where he will be obliged to be neat and or- 
derly in his habits. He will make you no trouble, 
if you will take him out into the yard every morn- 
ing, noon and evening, and always take him to the 
same place. 

“ Your faithful friend, 

“ Mrs. Santa Claus.” 

As Nicodemus was a Manx cat, Jack treated him 
very kindly, and invited him to have some sardines 


Christmas 


ioi 


with us. While we were eating, the box played a 
song that I have often heard about some little fishes 
that asked their mother if they could go and play. 
I can’t repeat the song but I will tell you what I 
remember of it. Their mother said no, but the lit- 
tle fishes went anyhow; and the result was that 
they got so far away from home they could not find 
their way back again. At last they were caught in 
a net with a lot of other fishes, and taken to the 
cannery. 

“ Perhaps these are the very ones,” said Jack, as 
he pointed to the box that was fast becoming 
empty. I don’t know whether Jack’s object was to 
save his few remaining sardines or not ; but, any- 
way, I did not care for any more just then ; and as 
the sun had gone down, I bade Jack and his guest 
a very good-evening. 

And so ended our Christmas. 


XV 


OLD BLACKIE 

I had often wondered how it happened that 
a busy woman like mistress was so much interested 
in cats, till one evening the mystery was cleared 
up. A lovely lady whom Guy called “ Aunt 
Minnie ” was staying with us at the time — and by 
the way we cats are very happy whenever she 
comes to visit us, because then somebody always 
sends such beautiful flowers. 

I had climbed up into mistress’ lap to listen to a 
story she was reading about some Cat Club. But 
as it was only about Angoras and Persian cats, and 
not a word about Maltese and tigers, it did not in- 
terest me very much, and I curled up and took a 
nap. When I awoke, mistress was talking, and the 
first I heard was : 

“ When I was a little girl in Switzerland, we had 
horses, cows, dogs, cats and rabbits, and I was very 
fond of them all. I suppose the reason I have be- 
come so fond of cats is because I have for many 
102 


Old Blackie 


103 


years been deprived of the other pets, and for some 
time while boarding, I didn’t even have a cat. But 
just before Guy was born we started housekeeping 
in a down-town cottage, and on the very first day 
an enormous black cat came to the kitchen door, 
pleading for admittance. Having found that there 
were mice and rats in the cellar, I gladly let him 
in and from that day I never saw a rat or a mouse 
in the house. We fixed him a comfortable corner 
in the basement, and named him ‘ Tom.’ From 
the first he acted like one thoroughly familiar with 
the premises, and no wonder : I learned afterward 
from the neighbors that he had lived in that house 
for many years with successive tenants. 

“ But one morning I heard some very queer noises 
in the basement, and when I went down to see 
what it was, I found Tom lying in his basket with 
four of the tiniest kittens I had ever seen, and look- 
ing up at me so pleadingly, as if to say : ‘ You’ll be 
good to them, won’t you ? ’ 

“ We knew then that ‘ Tom ’ was not an ap- 
propriate name for our cat, for whoever heard of a 
mother cat named * Tom ’ ? So we told Guy’s 
nurse to find a new name for her, and because she 
was so black, Emma named her ‘ Old Blackie.’ ” 


104 Pussy Meow 

“ What has become of Old Blackie and her 
kittens ? ” said Aunt Minnie. 

Mistress continued : “ Blackie raised her family, 
two tigers and two Maltese; the Maltese were 
named ‘Jumbo ’ and ‘ Fritz/ the tigers ‘ Meow ’ and 
‘ Peggy/ Jumbo and Peggy were adopted by the 
doctor who attended Guy ; Fritz was taken home 
by our milkman, and I kept Meow. But the fol- 
lowing year Guy’s health was not good, and we 
went to my father’s to spend the summer on the 
farm. In the meantime some more kittens had 
come to Blackie, and I arranged with my neigh- 
bor’s little girl to take care of the whole family 
during my absence, and to find homes for the little 
ones, if she could. Meow we took with us, in a 
large bird cage covered with a cloth.” 

As I listened to the story of Old Blackie, I was 
reminded of old Peter, a cat that was deserted by 
his people who left him in the cellar. He was 
nearly drowned when the landlord found him, and 
took him to his own beautiful home ; and he 
named him Peter, because he had found him walk- 
ing in the water. 

Aunt Minnie had by this time become so in- 


Old Blackie 


i°5 

terested in mistress’ story, that she asked her to 
also relate the history of Meow. 

“ That was my first experience traveling with a 
cat,” said mistress. “ Emma took care of Meow, 
and I held the baby. 

“ On the farm Meow became very popular, and 
she and grandpa were the best of friends. I well 
remember how at meal-times she would always sit 
on the broad window-sill in the dining-room, and 
as soon as grandpa finished, and began to lean 
back in his big armchair, she would spring on his 
shoulder and caress him. Then he would prepar.e 
her a dainty dinner and carry it out to the kitchen 
with her perched on his shoulder. I also remem- 
ber that when her first kittens came she was de- 
termined to put them into my bureau drawer. But 
I took her out into the kitchen and made her a 
nice soft bed in an old cheese box, where she 
raised her family and became a very good mother.” 

“ But where is Meow now?” said Aunt Minnie. 

“ When the summer was over and the time ap- 
proached for our departure,” said mistress, 
“ grandpa had become so attached to Meow, he in- 
vited her to stay with him ; and as she had a family 
I was glad to let her remain.” 


1 06 Pussy Meow 

“ And is she there yet ? ” asked Aunt Minnie. 

“ No,” said mistress. “ She lived there seven 
years, and then grandpa went to live on another 
farm. On the day they moved he put her into a 
bag to take her to the new house ; but, instead of 
putting her into a closed room until she recovered 
from the excitement caused by the removal, he 
opened the bag in the yard, and she ran away as 
fast as she could. 

“ Some months later grandpa learned that she 
had gone back to the old place ; for on the morn- 
ing after the new family moved in, they found 
her lying in her cheese box, very ill and unable to 
move, and on that same day she died. She had 
traveled three miles and crossed a wide creek in 
order to reach her old home.” 

When I heard this story I remembered mistress’ 
remark on that first morning, that I looked like 
“ Meow,” and it dawned upon me why I was given 
that name. And having become acquainted with 
grandpa I was glad to be named after an animal 
that had given him so much pleasure, and I was 
more determined than ever to be a good and useful 
cat. That’s why I never beg when I sit at the 
table, and very often when mistress has finished I 


Old Blackie 


107 

jump from my chair up to her shoulder and kiss 
her cheek. Sometimes I can hardly wait till she 
gets through. 

But I am very sorry that Meow left grandpa in 
such a hasty manner, and no doubt the good old 
man thought she was a poor homeless cat until 
he heard of her death. I would not be afraid at 
any place to which Guy or mistress might take me, 
as long as they were with me. 

Having heard the history of Meow, my name- 
sake, Aunt Minnie wanted to know what had be- 
come of Old Blackie. 

“ Old Blackie,” said mistress, “ came to a very 
sad end. During my absence I had my milkman 
leave milk for her every day, and my butcher 
brought her meat regularly; I also left a dozen 
cans of salmon so that Blackie and her kittens 
could have one every week. After we had been 
gone about two months, the little girl wrote that 
Blackie had died, and that she had found homes 
for all the kittens but one, which she would like to 
keep herself. Upon my return home I learned 
that Blackie’s death was due to gangrene poison- 
ing, caused by eating salmon that had been left in 
the can after opening.” 


108 Fussy Meow 

“ This is a very sad ending to a most interesting 
story/’ said Aunt Minnie ; and I thought so too. 
I think we cats ought all to feel very grateful to 
Old Blackie, because it was she that got mistress 
interested in cats again, after she had been so long 
a time without any, and in this I am sure Blackie 
did all cats a great service. 


XVI 


MY GREAT SORROW 

One evening when we cats had had our usual 
frolic in the library and bedtime was drawing near, 
I went to the door, as usual, and gave mistress the 
look which told her that I wanted to go out. She 
opened the door in the kindest manner, and as it 
was a beautiful moonlight night I mounted the 
fence and went over to Jack’s house, for I had 
something very important to tell him. I had heard 
Guy tell mistress that very evening not to let us 
stay out much evenings, because he had been told 
that it was the fashion in schools and colleges to 
dissect cats, so they can see how we are put to- 
gether. He said that one of the boys had told him 
that they just go out nights and get any cats they 
can catch, or that will come to them ; and that the 
majority of cats gathered up in this way are some- 
body’s pets because they are so much more tame 
than others, and more easily caught. 

When I told this to Jack, it made him very in- 
109 


1 io 


Pussy Meow 

dignant. “ The idea of such an outrage perpe- 
trated on us poor unsuspecting cats,” said he. 
“ Where is the Humane Agent ? Why don’t he 
arrest the thieves ? ” 

I told Jack that from what I had heard, one 
might steal all the cats in Christendom, except the 
highly favored Angoras and Persians, and he could 
not be arrested, because the law does not protect 
cats. 

When Jack heard this he could hardly contain 
himself for anger, and he invited me to go over to 
his yard and sit on the bench with him, where we 
could talk the matter over quietly. But just then 
his mistress called him, and being a very obedient 
cat, he went right into the house. I went over to- 
ward my poplar tree, and as I neared my house I 
heard my mistress calling me also. But it was 
such a pleasant evening, the moonlight was so 
beautiful and the stars shone so brightly, I really 
could not bear the thought of going in. Even the 
whetting of the carving knife did not tempt me, 
and I did not heed my dear mistress’ call. It 
seems as though I could hear even now that tender 
voice falling softly on the night air : “ Come, 
Meow, come,” before she finally closed the door. 


My Great Sorrow 1 1 1 

How dearly I paid for my disobedience, I will tell 
you. 

After staying up in the poplar tree awhile, I con- 
cluded to go in, but the doors were all shut, and the 
house was dark. I called at the kitchen door, but 
nobody heard me, so I crawled into a soap box in 
which I found an old blanket, put there for me, no 
doubt, by my thoughtful mistress. But for some 
reason or other I could not get that dreadful dis- 
secting story off my mind, and while I sat in my 
box thinking about it, I saw an old black cat, — not 
Jack — come along on the fence ledge and descend 
into my yard. I jumped up immediately and asked 
him what business he had prowling around in my 
yard at that time of night. 

“ I am looking for you,” said he, “ and I want you 
to go with me to visit a friend down by the railroad.” 

On the whole the cat had quite a distinguished 
appearance, and I must say I felt somewhat flattered 
by his attention. Besides that, he was so polite and 
kind, and I so lonely. Well, to make a long story 
short, I accepted his invitation. 

My companion said we must hurry, as it was a 
long distance, so we started on our journey at once. 
We walked to the end of Poplar Avenue, farther 


112 


Pussy Meow 

than I had walked before in all my life; then 
we crossed several railroad tracks, and for a short 
distance we went on the top of a fence inclosing a 
beautiful yard with trees and shrubs and flowers. 
Quite a distance from the fence stood a large white 
mansion, and there my companion alighted and 
bade me follow him. 

“ Here is where my friend lives,” said he, “ and 
his name is Caesar Augustus Napoleon, so you can 
imagine he is no ordinary cat.” 

I felt very proud to think I should soon meet 
such a distinguished cat, but we had not gone many 
steps when a very loud bark frightened me, and I 
saw an enormous bulldog come toward us. I re- 
traced my steps to the fence, and ran away as fast 
as I could. But I must have gone the wrong way, 
for I could not find the railroad tracks which we had 
crossed. 

When I had gone far enough to be out of the 
dog’s reach, I rested for a few minutes, and be- 
thought me what to do. A short distance from the 
fence was another beautiful mansion, and it looked 
so inviting in the clear moonlight, I went over on 
the porch and sat upon the door-mat. There was no 
dog around to frighten me, so I rested quietly, and 


My Great Sorrow 113 

was just about ready to doze off into a nap when 
my black companion came along, limping on three 
legs, his head bleeding, and one of his eyes com- 
pletely closed. He had traced me to the porch, 
and came up and sat down beside me, but said 
nothing — goodness me, what could he say? — and 
as I was very tired, I soon fell asleep. When I 
awoke he had gone, and I felt I was very fortunate 
to be rid of him, for was he not the cause of all my 
trouble ? 

Sad and strange thoughts passed through my 
mind on that unhappy morning, and I could only 
hope that the “ Kind Providence ” that I had so 
often heard mistress tell about, would be good 
enough to help even a poor little homeless cat like 
me. 

I stayed on the porch all night, lonely, and shiv- 
ering with cold. I, who had always been used to 
sleeping on a nice soft pad or cushion even in the 
house, there on that cold night had to sleep out- 
doors on a straw mat. But we must expect sorrow 
and shame for disobedience. After all my greatest 
sorrow was caused by the thought of how dread- 
fully my dear mistress would feel in the morning at 
not finding me. 


114 Pussy Meow 

If only the dear children who read this story 
would take warning from my sad experience, and 
never disobey their parents, I could feel that some 
good had come out of my great sorrow. 


XVII 


THE KIND PROVIDENCE 

When it was morning, a man came out of the 
stable door back of the mansion and began sweep- 
ing the walks. I started to go away when he came 
near me, but he called to me in such a kind way, I 
lingered, though half afraid, for a few moments. 

Instead of sweeping the porch where I was sit- 
ting, he passed by, only sweeping the steps, talking 
gently to me as he went along. I could tell by the 
tone of his voice that he was a kind-hearted man, 
and when he returned, I followed him into the 
stable. 

There I saw four beautiful horses, each in a clean 
large stall, and they all looked so happy and self- 
respecting. One was much darker than the others, 
and I wondered whether possibly he was the 
“ Black Beauty ” I had heard so much about. The 
man then began to brush and comb the horses, 
talking to them, and whistling and singing part of 

the time. When he had finished, he gave them 
115 


n6 Pussy Meow 

their breakfast of oats and hay. During all this 
time I sat contentedly in a corner under the man- 
ger, quite forgetful of the unhappy night I had 
passed. 

After a while a boy, about Guy’s age and with 
just such blond, bushy hair, came into the stable, 
followed by an enormous white and yellow St. Ber- 
nard. I was terribly frightened when I saw the 
dog, but I didn’t let him know it ; it isn’t a cat’s 
way, you know. In a jiffy my back went up, and 
my tail took on the shape of a jug handle. But 
the dog didn’t pay a bit of attention to me. He 
lay down calmly and quietly, and in such a dignified 
manner. I said to myself “ here is a real gentle- 
man.” Gradually I moved a little closer to him, 
and lay down also. The boy then came over to 
where I was and said : “ Why, kitty, what is your 

name ? ” 

I said “ Meow.” 

But he evidently did not understand me, for after 
a while he said, “ Come, Tommie, and see my sis- 
ter,” and he took me up in his arms and carried me 
into the house. 

There I found a beautiful young lady by the 
name of Miss Dorothy. She had laughing blue 


The Kind Providence 


117 


eyes and long golden hair, which hung down her 
back in a graceful braid, tied at the end with a blue 
ribbon. There was also Mr. Banks her father, and 
Miss Beggs, the housekeeper. Arthur — that’s the 
boy’s name — set me down by the side of his sister, 
and told her where he had found me. 

I am very thankful to the kind Providence that 
put it into his heart to love animals and to show 
kindness to a poor little homeless cat like me. 

Miss Dorothy took me to the bathroom, where 
she sponged off my coat and wiped it dry with a 
towel. Then she gave me a good combing, and 
tied a fresh ribbon around my neck, for the one that 
I had on was all soiled and ragged. She did not 
like the name Tommie, so she called me Tootsie, a 
name which I trust I never dishonored, during the 
short time I bore it. Miss Dorothy also put a soft 
silken cushion at the foot of her bed, and that was 
my “ corner ” during all the time I stayed with her. 

But my new ribbon came very near causing me 
serious trouble. Miss Dorothy had tied it so 
loosely that it was quite uncomfortable. I tried to 
slip it over my head, and in so doing my lower jaw 
became caught in it, and I was unable to close my 
mouth. The worst of it all was, my jaw was caught 


1 1 8 Pussy Meow 

in such a way that I could not make an outcry or 
give any alarm. I just tumbled over and over my- 
self in my frantic effort to get the troublesome thing 
off, and Miss Dorothy looked on, evidently thinking 
I was playing. Finally I just sank down, ex- 
hausted, and then she noticed my trouble, and with 
the scissors quickly cut the ribbon. After that she 
tied it more carefully. 

I happened to be in the dining-room one day 
when they were arranging the dinner-table, and as 
four chairs were placed when there were but three 
persons to sit down, I concluded that the fourth 
was for me ; so I jumped up next to Miss Dorothy. 
She seemed very much pleased, and welcomed me 
with a pat on my back ; but Mr. Banks frowned, 
and said I must not be allowed such liberties. At 
this Miss Beggs offered to take me out of the room, 
but Miss Dorothy begged so hard for me to be al- 
lowed to stay, Mr. Banks finally consented, saying 
that if I continued to behave as well as I had so 
far, he would not object. 

“ She is no common cat,” said Arthur ; “ she acts 
as if she were accustomed to sitting at the table.” 

Miss Dorothy gave me a loving look and said, 
“ You are a treasure, Toots.” 


The Kind Providence 


119 


Before the meal was quite finished, “ Dr. Fogg ” 
was announced, and Miss Dorothy arose from 
the table saying that she was expecting him for 
dinner. 

Miss Beggs then took me up-stairs, but after din- 
ner I went down to the library, and spent a very 
pleasant evening with Dr. Fogg and Miss Dorothy. 

I had given myself such a vigorous scrubbing 
while up-stairs that my fur was stuck together in 
little tufts all over my body; but Miss Dorothy 
picked me up and smoothed it all out, and put a 
pretty fresh ribbon around my neck. 

Then Dr. Fogg took me for a while, and after he 
had looked me all over he said I was a good 
healthy cat. 

“ How can you tell ? ” said Miss Dorothy. 

“ Because her nostrils are cold and moist,” was 
the reply. “ A sick or famished cat has dry, hot 
nostrils. This cat also has many good points,” 
added the doctor : “ short nose, short thick tail, 
short round ears and soft silken fur.” 

“ You are a lover of cats, I take it, or you would 
not be so well versed in cat-lore,” said Miss Dor- 
othy, with evident pleasure. 

“ You would think so if you could see my 


120 


Pussy Meow 

Remus/’ replied the doctor, the while gently strok- 
ing my back. “ I wouldn’t part with him for a 
fortune. Better than any medicine to a restless 
overworked mind is a sleek healthy cat for a bed- 
fellow, for the electricity with which his fur is 
charged will induce sleep when all other means 
fail.” 

“ How perfectly wonderful,” said Miss Dorothy. 
“ I must get one for papa. Where did you get 
Remus ? ” 

“ Remus,” said the doctor, “ was one of a pair of 
black kittens that belonged to old Black Betty at 
the college. Betty had the mange several times, 
but the students always cured her by rubbing her 
sores with a mixture of lard and sulphur, which she 
would immediately lick off. During her last attack, 
however, she seemed to have a presentiment that 
her hour had come. One morning, while my 
father was lecturing to the students, Betty brought 
in one of her kittens, laid it at his feet, looked up 
into his face and mewed. Then she went and 
fetched the other, and repeated the same action, 
after which she returned to her basket, and ten 
minutes later the janitor found her dead. Father 
regarded those kittens as a sacred trust, and 


The Kind Providence 


121 


insisted that both be kept in our house ; so sister 
appropiated one, and I the other ; and this is how 
I came into possession of Remus.” 

When the doctor began to talk about the things 
that they did at the college, I expected to hear 
quite a different story. I am glad now to know 
that they do some other things for cats in colleges 
besides dissecting them. 

“ By the way,” said Miss Dorothy, “ I read in 
to-day’s paper that in some place where diptheria 
is raging, all the cats have been killed because it is 
supposed that they spread the disease. And in 
another place where the smallpox has broken out, 
the health officer proposes that it is necessary to 
kill off all the stray and homeless cats and dogs 
before the disease can be stamped out. What do 
you think of that ? ” 

“ Nonsense,” said the doctor. “ Everything that 
lives, from a fly to an elephant, is liable to carry 
germs, and one of the most prolific conductors of 
germs is the rat ; so you see that even the perse- 
cuted alley cat has a reason for her existence. 
Indeed, the congested districts of a large city would 
be unhabitable, and we would see the scenes of the 
famous mouse tower enacted over again, were it 






122 Pussy Meow 

not for the services of this much maligned and mis- 
understood creature.” 

“ It seems to me,” said Miss Dorothy, “ if there 
were anything in this theory about cats and dogs 
spreading smallpox, for instance, they would them- 
selves be subject to the disease. But whoever 
heard of a cat or dog dying of smallpox, or even 
being afflicted with it ? ” 

“ I am sure I never did,” replied the doctor. 

As for me, the things to which I had been listen- 
ing filled me with astonishment and indignation, 
and I retired to my corner on Miss Dorothy’s bed 
to think matters over. Would that there were 
more such kind-hearted people to speak for the de- 
fenseless as Miss Dorothy and the doctor. 

But I must return to my story. Bernie, the dog, 
was a noble, dignified animal, and not the least bit 
jealous of the attention that was being paid to me. 
Often when I was out in the yard, he would invite 
me to lie beside him in the sunshine, and when I 
did so he would put his head down close to mine 
and look into my eyes, just as if he wanted to tell 
me something real nice. His coat was always 
clean and fluffy, because he had a bath regularly 
once a week, and his “ corner ” was in the rear hall, 


The Kind Providence 


123 


where he had a white fur rug for his resting-place. 
But he spent most of his time outside with Arthur 
and the coachman. 

During the first day or two at Miss Dorothy’s I 
really suffered hunger, although I was in the midst 
of plenty, for the cook never thought of giving 
me a morsel of anything. She would throw the 
nicest tidbits of meat and fish that came from the 
table right into the garbage can, and let me hunt 
for food the best way I could. Of course, I was 
not used to eating out of garbage cans, and really, 
I’d starve rather than do such a vulgar thing. After 
a few days of such scanty fare as I could get by 
catching flies and grasshoppers, I jumped up on the 
pantry table one morning to see if I couldn’t find 
something more substantial, and what should I 
see there but a great big fish. I grabbed him by 
the tail and jumped down, but the fish got to the 
floor before I did. I then took hold of him and 
pulled him over to the cellar door, and was just 
starting down the stairs to take him to a quiet 
place, where I could have my feast undisturbed, 
when the cook came in. 

“ Faith an’ I knowed all the time ye was a thief,” 
said she, jerking my treasure away from me ; and 


1 24 Pussy Meow 

then she called Miss Dorothy in to see what her 
new pet was up to. Miss Dorothy took me up in 
her arms, but did not say one unpleasant word to 
me. She knew that no respectable cat would 
steal, unless actually driven to it. She asked the 
cook when I was last fed, and upon learning that 
no one had paid any attention to me in the way of 
food, she told Miss Beggs to see that I was prop- 
erly cared for at every meal thereafter, and after 
that I fared better. Miss Beggs would gather up 
the choicest little remnants of meat or chicken or 
fish on the plates, and mix them with a little 
mashed potato or rice in such a way that it made 
the daintiest meal for me. 

So you see the kind Providence did take care of 
me, even though I am only a cat. 


XVIII 


A WELCOME VISITOR 

Miss Dorothy had many lovely neighbors, but 
the one I liked best of all was Mrs. Stevens. One 
day when the two ladies were visiting, I happened 
to be in the room, and Miss Dorothy told Mrs. 
Stevens how 1 had come to her a homeless little 
stranger. Mrs. Stevens said that her children had 
been wanting a little kitty for a long time, but that 
she had never allowed them to have one till Mrs. 
Cotton persuaded her to do so. 

When I heard the name of Mrs. Cotton, I was so 
overjoyed, I jumped on the floor and turned several 
somersaults, and Mrs. Stevens laughed heartily at 
my antics. 

One day while napping on my cushion, I was 
awakened by a familiar voice in Miss Dorothy’s 
room. It was a lady, and she asked Miss Dorothy 
if she could take charge of the Band of Mercy for a 
while, as Miss Wallace the leader, had been called 
away. 


125 


126 


Pussy Meow 

Of course having heard the story of Beau- 
tiful Joe, I know all about the Band of Mercy. 
It is a place where little boys and girls sing 
and speak lovely pieces. Here is one I heard 
Guy read to his mother from “ Dumb Ani- 
mals : ” 

Three little kittens, so downy and soft, 

Were cuddled up by the fire, 

And two little children were sleeping aloft, 

As cozy as heart could desire ; 

Dreaming of something ever so nice, 

Dolls and sugar-plums, rats and mice. 

The night wore on, and the mistress said, 

“ I’m sleepy, I must confess, 

And as kitties and babies are safe in bed, 

I’ll go to bed too, I guess.” 

She went up-stairs, just a story higher. 

While the kittens slept by the kitchen fire. 

“ What noise can that be ? ” the mistress said. 

“ Meow ! meow ! ” “ I’m afraid 
A poor kitty-cat’s fallen out of bed ! 

The nice little nest I made ! ” 

“ Meow ! meow ! ” “ Dear me ! dear me ! 

I wonder what can the matter be ! ” 

The mistress paused on an upper stair, 

For, what did she see below ? 

But three little kittens, with frightened air, 

Standing up in a row ! 

With six little paws on the step above, 

And no mother cat to caress or love ! 


A Welcome Visitor 


12 7 


Through the kitchen door came a cloud of smoke ! 

The mistress, in great alarm, 

To a sense of danger straightway awoke : 

Her babies might come to harm. 

On the kitchen hearth, to her great amaze, 

Was a basket of shavings beginning to blaze. 


The three little kittens were hugged and kissed, 

And promised many a mouse ; 

While their names were put upon honor’s list, 

For hadn’t they saved a house ? 

And two little children were gathered tight 
To their mother’s heart ere she slept that night. 

The mention of the Band of Mercy brought to 
my mind little Willie Cotton, and instantly it 
dawned upon me that the strange lady was Willie’s 
mother. Mrs. Cotton carried a bunch of delicious 
sweet violets, as usual. 

“ I will be most happy to do anything I can for 
Miss Wallace,” said Miss Dorothy, “ and if you 
think I am able to lead the Band, it will give me 
great pleasure to do so.” 

While Miss Dorothy was speaking I got up from 
my cushion, and jumped into her lap, but Mrs. 
Cotton did not seem to notice me at all; she was 
so interested in the Band of Mercy. Then, al- 
though I knew it was very rude to do so, I jumped 
over on Mrs. Cotton’s lap. I felt that I must in 


128 


Pussy Meow 

some way attract her attention. Mrs. Cotton 
petted me a little, so I climbed up to her face and 
kissed her nose. At this Mrs. Cotton seemed to 
take alarm. Perhaps she thought I was on the 
way up to her hat again ; but I wasn’t, for the 
birdies had all flown away. 

“ What an affectionate little creature,” said she, 
holding me firmly in her lap. “ Where did you get 
this cat?” 

“ She came to us a couple of weeks ago,” said 
Miss Dorothy, “and made herself so thoroughly 
agreeable that I have had her as my constant com- 
panion ever since.” 

Mrs. Cotton looked at me more closely and said, 
“ She looks like a cat that my neighbor, Mrs. Pax- 
ton has lost, and she has been very unhappy over 
it ; only a few days ago she said she still hoped to 
find her again.” 

Miss Dorothy looked very sad. “ Is there any 
way by which you could prove that this is Mrs. 
Paxton’s cat?” said she, “ for, if she is, I want to 
return her.” 

Mrs. Cotton put her hand to her forehead evi- 
dently trying to recall my name, when I cried out 
« 


meow. 


A Welcome Visitor 129 

“ Oh, ‘ Meow ’ ! that was the cat’s name. Meow ! 
Meow ! ” 

At the sound of my name I could hardly contain 
myself. I kissed Mrs. Cotton’s cheek many times, 
and then, seeing Miss Dorothy looked sad, I went 
over and kissed her too. 

“ I believe you are right,” said Miss Dorothy, 
“ and if Tootsie belongs to Mrs. Paxton, she shall 
have her back. I named her after Miss Willard’s 
cat because she seemed so well-bred and so dig- 
nified.” 

“ Mrs. Paxton will be delighted to see you,” said 
Mrs. Cotton, “ for I feel quite sure that this is her 
cat.” 

“ We shall all be very sorry to give her up,” said 
Miss Dorothy, as she accompanied Mrs. Cotton to 
the door. 

At the dinner-table Miss Dorothy told her father 
and Arthur what Mrs. Cotton had told her. 

“ There is only one thing to do, daughter,” said 
Mr. Banks. 

“ Yes,” said Miss Dorothy, “ I am going to take 
her over to-day.” 

Then I knew that that would be my last day at 
Miss Dorothy’s, and wishing to give my dear mis- 


* 3 ° 


Pussy Meow 

tress all the pleasure I could, I immediately set to 
washing myself and smoothing my fur. 

To be sure I felt sad to leave my new friends 
who had been so very kind to me, still I was over- 
joyed thinking of the happiness it would give my 
mistress to find me again. 


XIX 


A JOYFUL REUNION 

Soon after dinner that same day the carriage 
drove up to the side entrance, and Miss Dorothy 
wrapped me in a small blanket and took me away 
with her. 

She held me on her lap all the way and said lov- 
ing words, telling me how she would miss me if I 
belonged to the other lady. My head was out of 
the blanket so I could see where we were going. 

After a short drive on a beautiful avenue we 
turned down a quiet side street, and there, to my 
great delight, I saw the long row of poplar trees so 
dear to me. They seemed like so many old friends, 
standing there to welcome me home. Another 
familiar sight was Eddie riding his velocipede, and 
when next I saw Jack seated on his window-sill, I 
knew that we must be getting close to Number 127. 

Presently the carriage stopped and Miss Dorothy 
alighted, leaving me on the seat in care of the good, 

kind coachman. In a few minutes, which seemed 
131 


132 Pussy Meow 

hours to me, Miss Dorothy returned to fetch me 
into the house. My dear mistress met me at the 
door, and the moment she saw me she said, “ Meow, 
why did you leave me ? ”. at the same time taking 
me out of Miss Dorothy’s arms. I climbed up to 
her face and covered her cheeks with kisses. 

Poor Miss Dorothy watched me very closely, but 
after such a greeting she could have no doubt that 
I was the lost Meow. 

“ I am sorry to take her from you,” said mistress, 
“ for you must have become attached to her if you 
have had her all this time.” 

“ Yes,” said Miss Dorothy, “ she has been a most 
agreeable companion ; I shall miss her sorely.” 

Then the ladies chatted for a few minutes, Miss 
Dorothy telling mistress how I was found by her 
coachman, and mistress telling her when I disap- 
peared ; and as the two dates were only one day 
apart, both rejoiced that I had been fortunate enough 
to find a new home so soon. 

“ I will see that you get one in her place,” said 
mistress, trying to console poor Miss Dorothy, as 
she arose to go ; and I went on the window-sill to 
see the carriage roll away. 

The next thing I did was to look around for my 


J 33 


A Joyful Reunion 

companions, Budge and Toddy. On entering the 
library I saw upon the table a vase of beautiful 
flowers, and Budge and Toddy up there walking 
around the vase, admiring the flowers, and smelling 
them. I went up to them but they did not seem to 
remember me, and acted rather uppish — I mean with 
their backs. But after a while they recognized me 
as their former playmate, and their backs went down. 
Of course they wanted to know all about my ab- 
sence, and they told me of all the searching that 
had been done, and how mistress would go out in 
the yard day after day and call for me. 

“ Even Dennis was hunting for you all over the 
neighborhood,” said Toddy. 

“ And Jack came over every day,” said Budge, 
“ to inquire whether you had returned.” 

When it got to be time for the children to come 
from school, I went to the window to watch for 
Guy. But after all the children had passed by, and 
he did not come, I went to his room. 

There I found a strange lady dressed in blue, and 
wearing a white cap and apron, and somebody was 
lying in Guy’s bed. I jumped up on the bed, as I 
had often done, and saw that it was Guy ; but he 
looked so pale and thin, and to my great surprise, 


134 Pussy Meow 

he took no notice of me. 1 he house was very still, 
and everybody spoke in a whisper ; I could not un- 
derstand what it all meant. 

During the afternoon a very tall gentleman 
called, with a hand bag. They called him “ Doc- 
tor.” I heard him talk to the strange lady about 
“ temperature ” and “ quinine ” and “ hot com- 
press ” and other things that I had never heard of 
before. 

At supper-time Dennis came in and I went 
up to him and looked into his eyes. He put 
his nose down close to mine and gave a soft low 
growl ; perhaps he was scolding me for having 
stayed away so long. Early the next morning 
I scampered over to Jack’s house. I found him 
seated on the ledge of the fence, intently watching 
the ash box, but as soon as he saw me he came to 
meet me. 

“ Where have you been ? ” said he, joyfully, as 
he rubbed his side up against me in the most friendly 
fashion. “ I never expected to see you again, for I 
was afraid some of those dreadful college boys had 
got hold of you.” 

At this moment Jack’s mistress came out into the 
yard, and when she saw me she too seemed de- 


*35 


A Joyful Reunion 

lighted, and to fitly celebrate my return, she brought 
out the song box and made it play “ The Cat Came 
Back." 

Of course, I had to give Jack an account of how 
I happened to disappear so suddenly, and when I 
told him about my black companion and that woe- 
ful night he expressed great surprise. 

“ That explains Nig’s absence/' said he. “ His 
people, the Mortons, have missed him for several 
weeks. I don’t blame him for leaving, because 
they made him stay outdoors on the coldest 
nights ; and they gave him his food in an old tin 
pan big enough to water a horse with ; and his 
usual fare was plain boiled potatoes, or oat meal 
mush.” 

I told Jack the condition Nig was in when I last 
saw him, but he said that was nothing unusual for 
Nig, and that he had often seen him with both eyes 
closed after a night’s outing. 

It was many weeks before Guy went to school 
again, and as soon as he was able to be up, the 
nurse permitted me to stay in his room all the 
time ; so I spent many pleasant days with him. 
He told me about a big Maltese cat that came to 
the house just before he was taken ill, and how 


1 36 Pussy Meow 

they took her in and fed her as long as she stayed, 
because they wanted to do by her as they hoped 
some one was doing by me. I hope the kind 
Providence helped her to find her home again. 

As soon as Guy was strong enough, the nurse 
taught him how to knit, and he was trying to make 
a pair of slippers to surprise his mother on her 
birthday. Oh ! the fun I used to have playing with 
that ball of yarn. Often when it was wound around 
me, Guy would have to straighten it our before he 
could go on with his knitting. But once it came 
near costing me my life. The nurse was out on an 
errand at the time and Guy had dozed off to sleep, 
so I concluded to go down-stairs and get a little 
fresh air. But when I had gone half-way down 
the stairs something began pulling me back. 
Harder and harder I jerked, and harder and 
harder it pulled, till it finally broke and I got 
away. The yarn was wound around my neck so 
many times, it seemed like a rope, and I was 
gasping for breath at the foot of the stairs, when 
the nurse came in. She quickly cut it with the 
scissors, or I fear I should never have lived 
to tell the story of my happy home-com- 
ing. 


XX 


A NEW HOME 

As soon as Guy was well again, he and mistress 
began to pack boxes and trunks, as if getting ready 
for another journey ;• and sure enough, one pleasant 
day as I sat on the window-sill, a big moving van 
drove up in front of our house. 

As soon as mistress saw it she took us cats up to 
the attic, where we stayed the rest of the day. 
We looked out of the window, and saw one thing 
after another carried out of the house, and really 
we wondered with some misgivings as to what was 
happening to our dear home ; even our basket had 
been put into the wagon. As we sat thinking 
these sad thoughts, and wondering what was going 
to be done with us, Guy came in with a big 
covered willow basket. He placed us inside of it, 
closed the cover, fastened it, and took us down- 
stairs and handed us to the driver. Then he too 
mounted the wagon, seating himself in front with 
the driver. I was so glad to see him go with us, 
137 


138 Pussy Meow 

and he kept our basket close by his side so that I 
could see him through the cracks in the basket, and 
could hear his voice. The rumbling of the wheels 
was not very pleasant to listen to, and Budge and 
Toddy were terribly frightened ; you see they had 
never traveled, as I had, and didn’t know what it 
all meant. 

But our journey was very short. We stopped 
in front of a little white house with vine-covered 
verandas, where Guy jumped down and took us in, 
and mistress was there to welcome us. She took 
us at once up to the attic, and when we emerged 
from the basket, what should we find but our pads 
spread out in the sun with a saucer of milk by the 
side of them. There we stayed until morning, but 
we did not sleep very much ; why ? There were 
too many cozy nooks and corners to explore, and 
besides that, Toddy said he saw a mouse poke her 
head above a little hole, and we all watched the 
hole with him. But I am half afraid the mouse 
must have seen us, for she took care not to return. 

In the morning Guy called us down-stairs and 
showed us all around the premises, and we were 
delighted to find such a large green yard with 
shrubs and trees. In front of the house were three 


A New Home 


] 39 

big maples, where we could climb up in case of 
danger from big dogs. 

When we entered the house, we found our dear 
basket and cushions in a cozy corner of the library, 
and it just seemed as though 127 Poplar Avenue 
had been carried down bodily in the moving van. 
Off mistress’ room was a delightful veranda and it 
was just the nicest place for us cats, because it used 
to make the dogs so furious to see us where they 
could not chase us. Mistress put one of our pads 
on the veranda, and in very warm weather we 
stayed out there all night. Budge used to go to 
sleep on the railing, and it was a common thing to 
hear his cry down below in the early morning. 
But the tumble didn’t seem to do him any harm. 

On the very next day after we had moved, I was 
sitting on the window-sill in Guy’s room, looking 
down into the yard. On top of the board fence 
separating our yard from our neighbor’s was a big 
yellow cat, and below on the lawn stood a small 
white and yellow dog whom they called “ Jip.” 

“ Those are some of our new neighbors,” said 
mistress, “ and we will see if we can get on good 
terms with them.” 

With that she raised the window, and threw out 


1 40 Pussy Meow 

some raw beef. The cat jumped off the fence, and 
she and the dog both ran for the meat. Mistress 
threw down several more pieces, and when it ceased 
to come dropping down, both looked up very wist- 
fully. 

About this time another cat appeared, a weak, 
sickly little creature, looking timorous, and very 
unhappy. I felt sure that mistress' heart would be 
touched at sight of her. The cat and dog had 
eaten all the meat, so mistress gave some to Guy 
to take to the little kitty. But she was afraid of 
him and would not come near, although she seemed 
very hungry. So Guy took a piece of the meat 
and threw it to the kitty, at a little distance, and she 
devoured it most greedily. Then he threw another 
piece not quite so far, and she came and got that. 
By throwing each piece a shorter distance, the 
kitty at last came close enough to Guy to take it 
out of his hand. 

While Guy was feeding the kitty he inquired of 
a little boy in the next yard if he knew to whom 
the dog and cats belonged. 

“ The yellow ones belong to us,” said the boy, 
“ and the little kitty has no home at all ; she be- 
longed to the people that moved away.” 



The Two Were Holding a Friendly Talk in the Garden 






A New Home 


141 


At this mistress went quickly down the stairs, 
and when I next saw her, she had captured the 
timorous creature, and the two were holding a 
friendly chat in the garden. After that Guy made 
the little waif a comfortable bed in the basement, 
and mistress gave her the name of “ Daisy,” while 
Guy named the yellow cat “ Buttercup.” 

Maple Road down our way was richly blessed 
with children in those days, so much so that the 
boys called it “ Youngsters’ Boulevard.” And they 
were all such dear children. 

On our right was Charlie Watt, and on our left 
were the Moody children, Marie, Anita, Madeline 
and Charlie. On the opposite side of the street 
were Florence and Lee Harrison, and a little way 
down the street were our friends Don and Winifred, 
whose pictures we had often seen above the book- 
case. 

Often when mistress went over to Winifred’s 
house, Toddy and I followed her, and we used to 
play with Winifred and Katy — her dolly. Budge 
is too bashful to go out in company, so he usually 
stayed under the porch till we returned. I guess 
this is why Guy called him the “ Home Guard.” 

Very often Winifred came to visit us. But she 


142 Pussy Meow 

never ran after us nor mauled us around as children 
are so apt to do. She would sit down on our cushion 
and wait till we went and sat by her side. This is 
why we all like her so well. If all children would 
do this, it would be much more pleasant for us to 
live with them. 

I cannot tell you how much I would like to see 
Jack and Dennis, but since I have found so many 
lovely friends in our new home, I don't miss them 
as much as I did at first. 


XXI 


OUR WINGED FRIENDS 

We soon discovered that cats and dogs were not 
our only new neighbors on Maple Road, for one 
morning early we noticed a pair of robins flitting 
around the upper piazza. It was plain that they 
had come to stay for a while at least, for they were 
building a nest among the vines, and they had it 
nearly completed. The nest was about half-way 
between the two posts. If it had only been at the 
post, we cats could have seen what was inside of it. 

Two little red-breasted robins were flying back and 
forth, fetching all sorts of things in their beaks ; 
straw and strings and moss and grass, which they 
twined around in the most curious fashion. One 
would step inside and pat it down with his breast, 
while the other went after more stuff. At one time 
one of them brought a black rag, which they both 
looked at, and chattered over a great deal, but evi- 
dently concluded not to use for they dropped it 
on the ground. Then, in her endeavor to help the 
143 


144 Pussy Meow 

robins mistress carried out a loose wad of cut 
worsted and placed it near the nest, but they did 
not make use of that either. Evidently they knew 
what they needed better than anybody else, in the 
building of their little home. 

A day or two after the nest was finished, Guy 
stepped on a chair and looked inside, and found 
one little blue egg in it. After this mistress and 
Guy were very careful not to go on the piazza 
while the robins were in the nest, for fear they 
would be frightened, and would desert their 
eggs. 

About three days later Guy looked again into 
the nest, and saw two eggs in it ; and a week later 
when he looked again, there were four. 

After the four eggs were laid, one of the robins 
stayed on the nest nearly all the time, the other 
one coming many times during the day, always 
bringing his mate something to eat. Mistress named 
them Robert and Rena. 

We cats wanted to go out on the piazza the 
worst way during those days, but the door was 
always shut. 

Sometimes when both robins were away, mistress 
or Guy would go on the piazza and scatter bread 


Our Winged Friends 145 s 

crumbs, but the naughty little sparrows would 
come and take them away from the robins. 

It was very hard for me to be a good cat in those 
days, especially when mistress would be standing 
inside the screen door, and Robert on the flower 
box answering her call. She would say “ Pretty 
Robbie ” and he would say, “ Take care ” — I sup- 
pose he meant by that she should take care not to let 
any harm come to his little mate. But just as soon 
as mistress opened the door, he would fly on the 
neighboring roof and scold very hard till she shut 
the door again. 

Sometimes when I sat on the window-sill behind 
the glass pane, Robert would come just as close to 
me as he could, talking bird-talk to me. I think 
he said : “ You can’t catch me,” for he seemed to 
think the screen or the window-pane made the 
porch railing a very safe place for him. 

Robert and Rena seemed to have it all under- 
stood between them how their housekeeping was to 
be managed. Robert continued very faithfully to 
bring food to Rena, and occasionally she would fly 
out for a little exercise, Robert staying in the nest 
till she returned. 

After a time we began to hear very queer sounds 


146 Pussy Meow 

coming from the piazza, and a great commotion 
seemed to be going on in the little nest. Tiny 
beaks could be seen, reaching above the edge, and 
Papa Robert seemed to be busier than ever. He 
would bring so much food at a time that the worms 
and insects could be seen dangling on each side of 
his beak. Sometimes he gave it to Rena, and she 
would chew it up and drop a portion into each little 
beak while he went off for more ; and sometimes 
he would feed the little ones himself. 

They say that accidents happen even in the best 
regulated households, so it’s not surprising that they 
came near having one in Robert’s family. I was 
sitting on the window-sill, and Rena was standing 
on the flower box chatting with mistress who stood 
just inside the door. The screen door happened to 
be unfastened and Toddy forced it open without 
mistress noticing it. So swiftly did he dart upon 
the flower box, that he nearly toppled over, and 
poor Rena just barely escaped his claws. 

As soon as Rena reached a safe distance in the 
maple tree, she turned to Toddy and gave him a 
dreadful scolding. “ You ugly cat,” said she, 
“ aren’t you ashamed to think of robbing my poor 
little babies of their mother? You are more cruel 


Our Winged Friends 147 

than the horrid huntermen who shoot poor birds 
with their guns ; because they wouldn’t think of 
coming in babytime.” Toddy was evidently very 
much ashamed, for he sneaked into the house and 
went straight to his basket, and didn’t show his face 
again that day. 

If I had had Toddy’s chance of getting out onto 
the porch, I should have done quite differently. I 
would have climbed up on the wire netting and the 
vines to the nest where the little birdies were, be- 
cause they couldn’t fly away. Oh, what a feast that 
would have been — four birds, one after the other. 
It sets my teeth on edge to think of it. 

One afternoon, when both the robins happened 
to be away, mistress went on the piazza to await 
their return. 

Rena came first, and perched on the neighboring 
housetop, chatting with mistress, although I think 
it sounded more as if she were scolding. Gradually 
she came nearer the piazza, and finally perched on 
the vines opposite the nest. But although her poor 
little babies cried most piteously, she would not go 
near them. But when mistress went into the 
house, hardly had she shut the door, when Rena 
flew to the nest and began feeding her babies. 


148 Pussy Meow' 

That evening a gentleman called upon Aunt 
Minnie, who was visiting us, and Mistress told him 
about the queer conduct of Rena. 

“ That’s easily explained,” said the gentleman : 
“ Robins are noted for concealing their young, 
although they will build their nests in the most fre- 
quented places. If you will take notice after the 
young are hatched, there will not be a sign of the 
shells lying around, neither will you find any in the 
nest after they leave, for they carry them all away.” 

“ Do you think they will come again next year ? ” 
inquired mistress. 

“ They may if left to themselves, and their nest 
not tampered with in the meantime,” said the gen- 
tleman. 

It was not many days before it became evident 
that the birdies were outgrowing their little home. 
Before their wings were well covered with feathers, 
they could be seen stretching them at full length, 
and fluttering over the nest, and one day when 
both Robert and Rena were out, Guy teased his 
mother to let him look into the nest. Mistress 
consented, so he took a chair out unto the piazza ; 
but unfortunately the screen door slipped from his 
grasp and closed with a very loud noise. This so 


Our Winged Friends 149 

frightened the birdies that a regular struggle began 
in the little nest, and one was forced out over the 
side. The poor thing spread his little bare wings 
and tried to fly, but it was a desperate effort, and 
after fluttering aimlessly about, he finally landed on 
Buttercup’s porch. Both mistress and Guy went 
down in great haste to get him, but the little truant 
would not be caught, and his wings seemed to be 
gaining strength with every second of exercise. 
He fluttered across the street, and hovered around 
on the lawn, till finally Mr. Harrison picked him 
up and put him in a tree, and there Robert and 
Rena found him and took care of him. I watched 
him from the window-sill, and I couldn’t help hav- 
ing some thoughts that are hardly proper for a 
good cat. 

By the time mistress returned to the piazza, every 
one of the robins had left the nest, and we cats 
saw them no more. 

Mistress gave many anxious sighs during that 
afternoon, and Guy tried to comfort her as best he 
could. “ If God takes care of the sparrows,” said 
he, “ don’t you suppose He will also take care of 
the robins ? ” 

Mistress did not speak for some moments, then 


150 Pussy Meow 

she said: “Well, my boy, some day you will be 
leaving your home just as the birdies left theirs to- 
day, and dangers will surround you. Then my dear, 
may you lean hard on the Book wherein you read 
that God takes care of the sparrows.” 

I am very glad I have had a chance to get 
acquainted with the robins, and I hope next spring 
they will come to us again. 


XXII 


NEW NEIGHBORS 

In the rear of our yard there was a very tall 
fence post with a flat top, and on it I loved to 
sit in the sun and watch the chickens in the ad- 
joining yard. 

Near the chicken coop was a kennel wherein 
lived Napoleon, a black shepherd dog, whom they 
called “ Nap ” for short. When I first knew Nap 
he was chained almost constantly, and often for 
days at a time he was without food or water. His 
howls and cries were pitiful, and all the neighbors 
talked about what an outrage it was to treat a dog 
so mean. One day our mistress called Nap’s 
mistress over to the fence and engaged her in a 
friendly talk, and after a while she asked why Nap 
was always chained. The lady said it was because 
her husband considered him a very valuable dog, 
and did not wish to lose him. 

“ Have you ever tried to bind him to his home 
with love and affection ? ” said mistress. “ I have 
151 


152 Pussy Meow 

found in my experience with animals that it will 
forge a chain far stronger than iron.” 

The lady said she would speak to her husband, 
and I am sure she has, for after that Nap had his 
meals more regularly, and he was free to roam 
where he pleased; and he proved himself very 
useful to the old hens in helping to keep strange 
cats out of the yard, while their chicks were small. 

One Sunday morning when mistress was out 
in the yard with us, Nap came over to our fence 
barking for joy, and peeping in at us between the 
pickets. He seemed so happy to be at liberty. 
Mistress had brought a lunch out for us, and she 
offered him some of the meat, which he devoured 
greedily. I was glad to share my breakfast with 
him, for having known Dennis so long, I cannot 
help feeling very friendly toward all dogs. 

But Budge and Toddy evidently did not care to 
share their meat with Nap, so they did what cats 
often do when they meet with an unpleasant sur- 
prise ; they sang a song. Budge’s voice is a bari- 
tone, Toddy’s a tenor and mine a soprano. But I 
did not join them on this occasion. 

I suppose you have often listened to cat concerts, 
and perhaps you have wondered why cats’ music is 


New Neighbors 


*53 


always so sad and doleful. The reason for this is 
that cats sing only when they are sad or in trouble, 
when they are contented and happy, they purr. 

As soon as the song was ended, Napoleon began 
to whine, and thrust his nose between the pickets 
again. I think he wanted more song, but Toddy 
evidently thought he wanted more breakfast, for 
the moment his nose was well through between the 
pickets, Toddy made a lunge for it, and this proved 
to be Napoleon’s Waterloo. Before he could 
withdraw, his nose was a perfect network of 
scratches, with blood oozing out of them like so 
many small beads. 

After Napoleon had retreated, mistress called us 
into the house, but in the afternoon I went out 
there again and jumped over on Nap’s side of the 
fence into the tall grass. But the old speckled hen 
drove me back with her cackle as she had often 
done before. She probably thought I was another 
naughty cat like Buttercup who stole her chickies ; 
but, really, I was only looking for grasshoppers. 
Now, although I am not much acquainted with 
Napoleon, I have given him a place in my book, 
because I want my readers to stop and think how 
cruel it is to keep a dog chained all the time, and 


1 54 Pussy Meow 

to leave him without his regular supply of food and 
water. 

I will now tell you about Bunny, a little Manx 
cat that came to our house every evening at sup- 
per-time. She did not offer to stay only just long 
enough to get something to eat. Guy named her 
“ Bunny ” because she has only a little stump of a 
tail, and when running she would raise her back 
just like a rabbit. I think Bunny must have come 
from the same country that Jack did, for she was 
the same kind of a cat, only she was gray, just like 
Budge. In fact she resembled Budge so much that 
we were all horrified the first time we saw her. 
We thought it was Budge himself, and that some 
one had cut off his tail. 

But while Toddy and I were busy smelling of the 
stranger, and mistress was bewailing the sad fate 
of her pet, in walked Budge, tail and all, carrying in 
his mouth a dead sparrow, which he laid at mis- 
tress’ feet with a great deal of pride. Then Toddy 
and I left off examining Bunny and turned our at- 
tention to the bird. 

Mistress often used to say she wondered where 
Bunny got the rest of her meals, and where she 
kept herself ; so one evening after Bunny had eaten 


New Neighbors 155 

her supper, Guy and I followed her ; and what do 
you suppose we found ? We traced Bunny into a 
vacant lot, and there under some shrubs was a little 
cave, dug into a bank of autumn leaves. This was 
Bunny’s home, and in it she had living with her five 
as chipper and lively little Manx cats as one could 
wish to see. Guy interested Don and Teddie in 
the little Bunnies, and the two boys brought them 
food mornings and noons ; so that thereafter they 
had three square meals a day. The boys also 
found good homes for them as soon as they were 
old enough to leave their mother. 

In the rear part of Mrs. Watt’s yard the grass is 
allowed to stand all summer so it becomes very tall. 
It was just a capital place for us cats to play hide 
and go seek, and to catch grasshoppers. I heard 
mistress say to Charlie one day that she wondered 
what we cats found to interest us so much in his 
back yard ; so I thought I would show her. The 
following Sunday, when she sat on the piazza, I 
carried a hopper up-stairs and laid him down at her 
feet. She was busy reading and did not notice him 
at once; but when he began flying around and I 
after him, she laid her book down and watched us. 
After the hopper had landed on the floor several 


156 Pussy Meow 

times, and I had had several rounds with him, he 
seemed pretty well tired out, and remained still for 
a few moments. Mistress picked him up, and see- 
ing he was not the least bit injured, she placed him 
on the vines, which was very nice for the hopper, 
but rather cruel to me, I thought. But nothing 
daunted, I went down-stairs and fetched another 
one. As I laid him on the floor mistress seemed 
horrified, for she thought I had mutilated him carry- 
ing him so far. She had not known up to this time 
where the first one came from. She was just 
reaching out to take my treasure from me, when 
Mr. Hopper flew toward the ceiling, which led her 
to conclude that he must be all right, and she did 
not interfere with me any further. Thus during 
the warm summer weather I had many pleasant 
times with my little playfellow, the grasshopper. 


XXIII 


OUR SUMMER OUTING 

When the time came again for mistress and Guy 
to take their outing, they were quite puzzled what 
to do with so many cats. 

“ It was easy enough/' said mistress, “ to take 
one cat when we traveled by boat, and went to 
grandpa’s. But three cats, and traveling on 
wheels, and stopping at hotels, is quite a different 
thing.” 

“ Perhaps you can make an arrangement with 
Charlie Watt to take care of them,” said Guy. 

Mrs. Watt was sitting on her veranda, and be- 
fore mistress went away that morning, she went 
over and asked whether Charlie could take care of 
us during her absence ; and as Charlie was present 
and said he would be delighted to do it, his mother 
assented. 

I was very thankful, for Charlie and his mother 
had always been very kind to us. 

Soon after that, one morning, two gentlemen 
157 


158 Pussy Meow 

called, and mistress and Guy rode away with them. 
Our basket and plate had been placed in Mrs. 
Watt’s kitchen, and Charlie fixed us a very nice 
meal at dinner-time, and we played with the grass- 
hoppers in his yard, so the first day went off all 
right. 

But the very next day we saw what threatened 
to destroy our peace of mind at Charlie Watt’s. His 
neighbor had a great fat pug dog, who acted very 
ungentlemanly from the first, and tried his best to 
frighten us, peeping between the fence pickets and 
barking as loud as he could. That very morning 
the grocer had left our gate open, and Pug who had 
been watching for such a chance, came in, snorting 
with rage. It was clearly a declaration of war ; but 
to my great surprise, Budge, who is usually very 
timid, was the first to take up arms against the 
enemy. With the most artistic curve in his back, 
and bristling his tail to suit the occasion, he started 
out, single-handed and alone. Of course, Toddy 
and I were not slow to follow such a courageous 
leader, and for a time the peaceful yard resembled 
a torrid race-track, with Pug in the lead and myself 
on the home-stretch. 

As round after round took a little wider range, 


Our Summer Outing 159 

Pug was nearing the corner where the ash pile is 
located, and stumbling over a tin can, he fell to the 
ground, and we three on top of him. Being such 
a fat fellow, he was much more easily exhausted 
than we, who are lithe and agile ; and once down, 
surrounded as he was, his defeat was complete. 
Nothing remained but an ignominious surrender. 
He crouched like the coward that he was, begging 
for mercy. But we did not let him off until we 
had thoroughly humbled him, chasing him back 
several times when he attempted to go, and that was 
the last difficulty we ever had with Pug. 

One night during mistress’ absence, we heard a 
terrible noise, and the next morning Buttercup’s 
mangled and bleeding body lay in our front yard. 
It was said that a dog had done the awful deed. 

But the cat population was not diminished by 
Buttercup’s sudden taking off, for on that very same 
morning, Daisy had a little spreckled kitty in her 
basket — only one. But that was enough for poor 
little Daisy to take care of, for she had a rattle in 
her throat, which Dr. Smith called “ consumption.” 
I think that is why Daisy was not invited to go 
with us to Mrs. Watt’s. But Charlie gave her food 
and water daily at the basement window, and after 


160 Pussy Meow 

Buttercup was gone, she had her own little kitten 
to keep her company. 

We were just enjoying our vacation very nicely, 
when one morning Budge disappeared, and that 
night we could not find him anywhere, although 
we could hear his doleful cry coming from some 
place, no one knew just where. I tremble to think 
what would have become of poor Budge, if mis- 
tress hadn’t come home in time to save him. 

Late the next afternoon she and Guy rode up to 
the curb. I was lying on the grass, and Toddy was 
in the hammock with Charlie. 

As soon as I heard mistress’ voice, I rushed out 
to meet her, and she picked me up and petted me, 
and said how glad she was to get home again. 
Then Mrs. Watt told her the distressing news that 
Budge had not been seen for two days. As soon 
as Guy reached his room up-stairs, he heard a 
muffled “ meow ” coming out of the wall, and in 
reply to his name Budge answered “ meow,” 
“ meow.” In the cellar his voice could be heard 
very plainly, so mistress went there and tried to 
coax him down with a piece of raw beefsteak. He 
was just above the studding ; having taken fright 
at something, and crawled up between the boards 


Our Summer Outing 1 6 1 

of the inside and outside wall, to the second 
story. 

After trying for several hours to coax him down, 
mistress went at ten o’clock at night to get a car- 
penter to open the wall. The good man had al- 
ready gone to bed, but he arose and came with 
mistress. He pried away a base board in Guy’s 
room, and Budge stuck his head through the open- 
ing, and mistress pulled him out. Toddy and I 
were very glad to have our companion with us 
again, and I hope another time Budge will know 
enough to run up a tree, instead of getting himself 
into such a predicament. 

The day before mistress came home, a water 
spaniel puppy arrived from the country, that had 
been sent to Charlie as a present. He looked just 
like Dennis, and I hoped he would grow to be as 
good and wise a dog ; but it was not to be so, for he 
only lived a few days after he came. They named 
him “ Brownie.” So innocent and unsuspecting was 
he, he would walk right up tq us cats and kiss our 
noses. If he had been a big handsome dog like 
Dennis, we would not have objected so much. But 
lady cats don’t care to be kissed by silly little puppy 
dogs. But no matter how many times Toddy 


162 Pussy Meow 

scratched his face, Brownie was so forgiving ; the 
very next minute he would go up to him again. As 
for Budge, whenever Brownie came near him, he 
growled so deep down in his throat that once mis- 
tress actually looked up into the sky and asked 
Guy whether he heard that thundering, and Brownie 
did not venture any farther. After getting several 
more scratches and a good many taps, he finally 
stayed away from Toddy. But he came to me 
whenever he wanted to, and I tried to teach them 
by my example that a little innocent, harmless 
puppy is not to be treated like a big, saucy, ferocious 
dog. 

If Brownie had not disobeyed his mistress I 
think he would be with us still ; but the day after 
we returned home he came into our yard between 
the fence pickets and helped himself to a dinner 
that was intended for three cats, a little more than 
a puppy dog ought to attempt at a single meal. 
But Brownie evidently thought himself equal to it, 
and when he went away, our plate was empty. He 
could not go back the way he came, but had to go 
around the house and through the gate. That was 
Brownie’s last visit to us, for that same evening, 
after suffering dreadful agonies in spite of all that 


Our Summer Outing 163 

mistress and Mrs. Watt did for him, poor Brownie 
lay down on the lawn and died. 

I couldn’t help thinking of poor Dappledun, of 
whom it is written : 

“ He ran in clover up to his knees, 

His trough was filled with stuff; 

Yet he’d jump the neighbor’s fence, and act 
As if he hadn’t enough. 

“ If only he could have been content 
With his feed of oats and hay, 

Poor headstrong, foolish Dappledun 
Had been alive to-day. 

“ But one night when the rack was filled 
With what he ought to eat, 

He thrust his nose out of his stall, 

And into a bin of wheat. 

“ And there he ate, and ate, and ate, 

And when he reached the tank 
Where Johnny watered him next morn, 

He drank, and drank, and drank. 

“ And when that night John carried him 
The sweet hay from the rick, 

He lay and groaned, and groaned, and groaned, 

For Dappledun was sick. 

“ And when another morning came 
And John rose from his bed, 

And went to water Dappledun, 

Poor Dappledun was dead ! ” 


164 Pussy Meow 

Early the following morning I saw Mr. Watt 
carry the little stiff body out to the rear part of the 
yard, where he dug a deep, dark hole. There he 
planted Brownie just as the rays of the rising sun 
were gleaming over the housetop ; and it seemed 
as though even the proud and stately hollyhocks 
were bending their heads in sorrow over our young 
friend’s untimely taking off. 

So you see we had all sorts of experiences dur- 
ing our summer vacation. 


XXIV 


RAISING A FAMILY 

Very soon after we had gone to Maple Road to 
live, one night a lot of little kittens came into my 
basket; I suppose the kind Providence had sent 
them, for it was not yet time for Santa Claus to be 
around again. The little things squirmed and 
whined most pitifully, and I covered them with my 
body to keep them warm. 

As soon as it was daylight I took a look at my 
visitors, and there, behold, were six little blind, 
helpless creatures, two tigers, two Maltese and two 
black. “ What will my mistress say/’ thought I, 
“ when she sees this ? ” I must confess I awaited 
her coming with some misgiving, fearing very much 
that she would be displeased. 

When mistress opened the door in the morning 
I arose and went to meet her as usual, and I apolo- 
gized as best I could ; but she did not even seem 
surprised. She petted me just as she was wont to 
165 


i66 


Pussy Meow 

do, or if anything even more fondly, and my saucer 
of milk that morning tasted as if it was more than 
half cream. While I was eating my breakfast, 
Guy came out, and together they examined my 
kittens, and praised them. “ Aren’t they beauts,” 
said he, as he fondled one after the other ; “ I wish 
we could keep them all.” 

After breakfast mistress lifted the pad with my 
kittens out of the basket and made us up a fresh 
clean bed with an old comfortable, which was large 
enough to fall over the rim of the basket, and so 
prevented any draughts from striking my little 
ones. Then for many days mistress brought my 
food and water to me, for with so many kittens I 
was busy every minute washing them to keep them 
sweet and clean. 

At the end of about ten days my kittens began 
to open their eyes ; and to be able to crawl over 
each other, and over me as well. One by one, as 
their eyesight became stronger, they would crawl 
up on the comfortable and look over the edge of 
the basket ; and very often one would step over a 
little too far, lose his balance and tumble over unto 
the floor. Then after a few minutes of groping 
around he would begin to cry, and I had to go and 


Raising a Family 167 

bring him back, unless Guy or mistress happened 
to be there. 

One day I heard mistress say to Guy : “ These 
kittens seem to be strong in their bodies but 
weak in their limbs, they topple over when they 
attempt to walk.” 

“ They need to exercise their limbs more,” said 
Guy. " They ought to have a larger place to move 
around in.” 

Then mistress spread an old comfortable on the 
floor in a sheltered corner of her room, and placed 
a market-basket in the middle of it, in the bottom 
of which was a bag full of stones to keep it from 
falling over when the kittens should climb up on 
the side of it. Mistress then put the kittens on the 
comfortable, and in an instant they began hobbling 
around and in and out of the basket. I lay on the 
comfortable with them, and watched them with great 
pleasure. Whenever one got far enough away 
from the “ gym ” ( as Guy called the basket ) to feel 
lonesome, he would whine ; but at my call would 
follow the direction of my voice, and promptly re- 
turn. By degrees they became so independent that 
they would walk clear to the edge of the thick 
comfortable, tumble over the “ embankment,” and 


1 68 Fussy Meow 

meander off at their own sweet will ; and so they 
grew daily stronger. 

One pleasant Sunday when mistress and Guy 
were at home, the comfortable was spread on the 
garden lawn, with the basket upon it as usual. At 
first I protested most seriously against this innova- 
tion, and started to take my kittens back to their 
accustomed place in the house. But they had 
grown so large, it was impossible for me to carry 
them up the steps, and I had to let them stay. I 
soon found, however, that the radiant sunshine was 
as a tonic to them, filling them with joy and 
strength and courage, and before the afternoon was 
gone, I had become well pleased with the change. 

Just as soon as the sunshine disappeared, Guy 
put the kittens into the basket and carried them 
back into the house, and after that I never objected 
when they were given an outing. 

Oh, how very happy I was in those days, with 
my little ones basking around me in the beautiful 
sunshine, for even in the house mistress always saw 
to it that our comfortable was in a sunny place. 
The basket became the scene of most wonderful 
activity. Guy said it was horizontal bar, side 
horse, long horse and race-track all in one; and 


Raising a Family 169 

here were performed some remarkable acrobatic 
feats, all of which served to make my little ones 
strong and steady. Of course I was very busy 
training them in various ways, and first of all I took 
great care to teach them clean and orderly habits. 
In this respect mistress was always very helpful, for 
she left each day a little box of fresh earth beside 
my basket, and whenever she saw one hunt around 
and get into a corner, she would go after him and 
set him into the box, and very soon they understood 
what it was there for. 

As soon as they were old enough I tried to teach 
them to lap milk with me from the saucer, and this 
proved to be the hardest task of all. They seemed 
to get the milk all up into their noses, instead of on 
their tongues, and it was a veritable sneezing bee. 
Then again some seemed to think that the saucer 
was a bath tub. Topsy, one of the black ones, 
walked deliberately into the dish, and when in the 
middle of it, sat down and took a sitz bath. Guy 
said he guessed she wanted to change her com- 
plexion. But in a few moments she landed safely 
on the other side. Meow Junior, one of the tigers, 
was satisfied to merely face about and dip his tail 
into the milk, much to the disgust of the rest. But in 


l yo Pussy Meow 

a few days they had learned to lap milk very nicely, 
and I thought it was time to take the next step in 
their education ; so I carried my piece of beef to 
them, to teach them how to chew something solid. 

When mistress saw it she was quite alarmed, and 
promptly took the meat away. But I persisted, 
fetching it back several times, till finally she let me 
have my way, saying that a mother was the best 
judge of what was good for her children. Then 
seeing that only one could get access to the piece, 
because he would growl so fiercely as to frighten 
the others away, she gave a piece of meat to each 
one. Of course, they could not chew very much 
as yet, and the pieces were too large to swallow 
whole, but it was excellent exercise for their jaws 
and teeth, and a pleasant pastime as well. 

On the first day that my kittens began to feed 
from a dish, they also began to practice at washing 
themselves, and it was a winsome sight to watch 
their earnest endeavors to do their very best. I was 
so thankful that mistress did not forget to keep a 
saucer of water in a convenient place for them. 
Then, having made their toilet, usually they would 
lie down in groups of two, or three, and take their 
after dinner nap. 


1 7 1 


Raising a Family 

One day when I was on mistress’ bed with my 
kittens, Guy laid his hat down by us, and Topsy 
went over and lay on the crown of it. It being a 
soft felt, her weight caused the crown to cave in, 
but this seemed to suit Topsy all the better. She 
settled down contentedly in the little round box 
and began to purr so loudly as to attract the atten- 
tion of the other kittens. Meow Junior, seeing 
that Topsy had found such a good thing, concluded 
to join her ; and so one by one they all deserted 
me, and meandered in the direction of the hat. 
When I looked up, to my great amusement the 
five kittens were lying in a circle on the rim with 
Topsy in the middle, and the hat had the appear- 
ance of being trimmed with cats. 

In telling this incident I hope I shall not set any 
one to thinking that kittens would make suitable 
ornaments instead of the poor unhappy birds that 
do such melancholy duty on some ladies’ hats. 

Thus for many weeks I devoted myself so con- 
stantly to my little ones that mistress called me 
“ the good little mother.” 


XXV 


BREAKING HOME TIES 

It was with the greatest pleasure that I gave 
myself to the care of my babies ; and oh, with what 
pride I watched their progress from day to day, and 
how very happy I felt when at my call they would 
cease their playing and come and rest on my 
bosom. But, sad to tell, to every mother there 
comes a cruel and relentless day, when her darlings 
are taken from her. When that day has come 
and she mourns in her loneliness and sorrow, her 
only comfort then is the thought that she has so 
trained her little ones that they will be a pleasure 
and a joy to the people with whom they live. I 
know that this is what my dear mother endeavored 
to do for me, and the same I tried to do for mine. 

My kitties were about three months old, when 
one day Miss Dorothy called. Mistress called her 
“ Mrs. Fogg,” but to me she will ever be only my 
dear Miss Dorothy. 


172 


Breaking Home Ties 173 

She had a bunch of delicious English violets at 
her waist, and as she held me on her lap I became 
so intoxicated with their fragrance that unwittingly 
I bit off a few of them. When Miss Dorothy dis- 
covered that I liked them she gave me the whole 
bunch, and, oh ! what a feast ! They were the first 
I had had since Aunt Minnie visited us ; and by 
the way I must tell you about that. We cats are 
very glad when Aunt Minnie comes, because then 
somebody always sends such beautiful flowers to 
the house. The last time they happened to be 
English violets, and, of course, we went up to the 
vase to look at them and to smell of them. Such 
beautiful violets ! Their fragrance filled the entire 
room. 

After dinner when Guy and Aunt Minnie came 
into the library, I heard her say “ What’s the mat- 
ter with these violets ? Nothing is left of them but 
the bare stems.” 

“ I’ll be jiggered,” said Guy. “ I don’t know 
where you’ll find them unless it’s inside of those 
cats.” Just then the door bell rang and Aunt 
Minnie’s friend came in. When they told him 
about the sad fate of the violets he laughed 
heartily, and said they would stop and get some 


1 74 Pussy Meow 

more on the way to the concert. So I fear that 
the violets were not intended for our dinner. 

But to return to Miss Dorothy ; it was a beauti- 
ful day, and mistress brought her into the garden 
where my kittens were gathered around their big 
saucer. As each one finished he sat down and 
gave himself a good washing. Then they gave a 
quite noteworthy performance of acrobatic skill on 
the gym : some taking possession of the horizontal 
bar, while others scaled the walls, or ran a race on 
the edge. 

I think I was the only one in the entire com- 
pany that was not perfectly happy that afternoon, 
for I half-suspected what Miss Dorothy had come 
for. She carried a very suspicious looking basket 
with a cover on it; and sure enough, when she pre- 
pared to take leave, mistress picked up my two little 
tigers and carried them into the house, and in a 
few minutes I heard the carriage roll away. That 
was the last I saw of my little tigers. Oh, how my 
heart ached ; and yet I knew perfectly well what a 
happy home they would have. What must a 
mother’s feelings be who has to see her babies 
taken away from her without this blessed assur- 
ance ? 


Breaking Home Ties 175 

It was not long after Miss Dorothy’s visit, when 
late one evening I missed Topsy, and Jasper one 
of the Maltese. After searching for them in every 
place I could think of, I finally gave up in despair ; 
but on the following morning I heard a very 
familiar sound coming from the next yard. I 
mounted the fence, and looking over there I saw 
my kittens basking in the sunshine on a big rug in 
Mrs. Moody’s yard. My first thought was to go 
and fetch them back ; but the fence was very high, 
and the kittens were quite heavy ; I had to give it 
up. There was one thing that worried me : Mrs. 
Moody’s dog Jip is a very saucy fellow ; I did not 
know how he would treat my babies, and I kept a 
pretty close watch on him. But one day I saw him 
lying on the rug with Topsy between his paws, and 
Jasper on his shoulders, and after that I could 
no longer entertain any unkind thoughts of Jip. 

A few days after this, Teddy called with his little 
sister Dorothy, a sweet little girl with beautiful 
flaxen curls. They played with my kittens for a 
long time, telling each other which they liked best; 
and as they had brought a big covered basket with 
them I rather surmised what they had come for. 
In fact I have learned to heartily dislike people 


1 y6 Pussy Meow 

who go around carrying covered baskets. But I 
knew that I could not keep my babies much longer, 
so I just tried to be brave, and resigned to my fate. 
Teddy said he liked the black one, but Dorothy 
preferred the Maltese. 

“ What are you going to call them, Teddy ? ” 
said mistress. 

“I shall call them Punch and Judy, or some 
names that fit together like that,” answered Teddy. 

“ But how will it be next summer, when you go 
to the Lake Shore ? ” 

“ We will have some one take care of them while 
we are gone,” said Dorothy. 

This satisfied mistress, and she told them they 
could have the kittens. 

Then I went out to see if I couldn’t find another 
mousie for them, and after long waiting at a neigh- 
boring ash pile I finally captured one, and I 
hastened to bring my babies this last offering. But 
when I reached the garden I found my basket 
empty, and the old comfortable that had been our 
rallying place, deserted. The dreaded hour had 
come ; I was a broken-hearted mother, bereft of all 
my little ones. I cared nothing more for the mousie 
so I let it go. Of course, I cried, and searched 


Breaking Home Ties 177 

every nook and corner on the premises before 
giving up my last hope. When at last I entered 
the house, mistress took me up very tenderly and 
spoke comforting words to me, and that night for 
the first time in many weeks I slept again at the 
foot of her bed. 


XXVI 


A FRIENDLY CHAT 

Budge has a habit of sitting on all fours with his 
paws curled under, his tail drawn tightly around his 
body, and his eyes half closed ; and whenever Guy 
sees him in that position he says “ behold the 
Sphinx.” 

One summer evening when we three were out on 
the piazza, I asked Budge what his thoughts were 
on such occasions. “ Generally about dogs,” said 
he. “ I have been trying for a long time to think 
what dogs are good for anyhow, and as I can’t 
think of a single thing, I wonder why there should 
be any dogs in the world at all.” 

I told Budge he must not judge all dogs by these 
saucy curs that come into our yard to eat up our 
dinner and bark at us. Said I : “ Have you never 
heard of Owney, the Postal dog, that has traveled 
all over this country, bringing joy and good cheer 

to the hearts of the poor toiling men that work on 
178 


A Friendly Chat 1 79 

the cars ? Or of Mose, that lived for many years 
in an engine-house, and attended every fire, cheer- 
ing on the horses and the men, and no doubt help- 
ing to save many lives ? Or of Barri, the noble 
St. Bernard, that saved the lives of more than forty 
travelers who were buried beneath the snow ? Or, 
have you forgotten our dear friend Dennis, that 
used to protect us from the attacks of fierce dogs 
when we were small kittens on Poplar Avenue? ” 

“ I never heard of Mose or Owney or Barri," said 
Budge. “ I wish you would tell us more about 
them." 

“ Well," said I, “ those were high-minded and 
noble animals, and useful in their day and gener- 
ation." 

“ That’s just what I want to be too," said Budge. 

“ And so do I," said Toddy. “ But aren’t there 
any noble and useful cats in the world ? " 

“ Yes," said I : “ I can mention the names of cats 
as well as dogs for your example : Toots Willard, 
for instance, who contributed over $ 20.00 towards 
the temperance cause from the sale of his photo- 
graphs, and who writes letters to the Union Signal, 
urging and encouraging his comrades to support 
the good work ; Meow, my namesake, who was 


1 So Pussy Meow 

such a joy and comfort to grandpa for seven years ; 
and Blackie and Jack, the famous rat-catchers.” 

“ Now that you mention it,” said Budge, “ I am 
reminded that there are many useful and valuable 
cats who have not even a name to be remembered 
by. Only a few days ago a lady who works in a 
commission house, told our mistress that they have 
fourteen cats in their place, and that indeed without 
them they could not carry on their business, for the 
rats and mice would ruin everything if the cats didn’t 
drive them away.” Here Toddy took the word: 

“ This reminds me,” said he, “ of a story I once 
heard about a man who owned a warehouse, and 
who had four sons. In the warehouse lived a big 
Maltese cat named Jimmie, whose favorite resting- 
place was on top of the bookkeeper’s desk, where 
he was wont to take his daily nap. In course of 
time the father died, and the four sons divided the 
warehouse between them. They also divided the 
cat so that each one knew which quarter of Jimmie 
belonged to him. One day soon after the division 
the cat was bitten in the right foreleg by a rat he 
had caught, and as that quarter of the cat belonged 
to Paul, the youngest son, he bandaged it and 
saturated the bandage with coal oil to take out the 


A Friendly Chat 1 8 1 

pain. That day when Jimmie was napping on the 
desk as usual, the bookkeeper laid down a lighted 
cigar which rolled over toward Jimmie and ignited 
the bandage. In an instant the poor creature was 
enveloped in flames, and in his terrible anguish and 
fright he ran up and down the warehouse, so that 
it was set on fire, causing great damage. When all 
was over the brothers had a meeting, and the three 
agreed that as Paul’s quarter of the cat had done the 
damage, he ought to pay them for their loss. This 
Paul refused to do, and as they could not agree, the 
four brothers then went before a judge ; and how do 
you suppose the judge settled it? Pie said it was 
Jimmie’s three well legs that had enabled him to 
run around the warehouse and scatter the fire, and 
not his sore one at all. And so instead of Paul pay- 
ing his brothers for their loss, they had to pay Paul 
for his. As for poor Jimmie, he died at his post of 
duty a victim to man’s heedlessness.” 

Another brave cat did service on the Battleship 
Texas in Santiago Bay, and I heard mistress read 
one evening how he stayed on the deck with the 
soldiers while the Spanish bullets went whizzing 
around him, and when every dog had gone whining 
and howling down to the bottom of the ship. 


182 


Pussy Meow 

On the same occasion mistress read another piece 
which she cut out, saying it would be a good thing 
for my story. It said : 

“ The largest student lodging house in Ithaca 
burned last night. Mrs. Stilwell, the boarding- 
house mistress, stated this morning that she be- 
lieves her life and the lives of all the occupants were 
saved by a favorite cat which went mewing up and 
down the halls. She awoke and spoke in a quiet- 
ing tone to the pet, but it would not remain quiet 
and came into her room and pulled with its claws 
on the bedclothes until she got up.” 

Said I “ All this only goes to prove that no mat- 
ter where you put a cat, whether on land or sea, 
amid peril or safety, if given a fair chance he will 
always fearlessly and honestly do his part.” 

“ Yes,” said Budge, taking on his sphinx-like 
attitude, “ and what a pity these last mentioned 
heroes didn’t have names, so their memory could be 
honored and cherished by future generations of 
cats. But I am thankful we have such a wise cat 
as you for a companion, and I for one shall try and 
be a better and more useful cat hereafter.” 

“ I have already begun,” said Toddy : “ don’t you 
remember, Budge, the other day when you did 


A Friendly Chat 183 

something very naughty in mistress’ room, I called 
you to me on the window-sill and covered myself 
over you so mistress could not find you ? And 
when she came in, she was so touched by my effort 
to shield you from disgrace, that she did not punish 
you ? ” 

“ Yes,” said Budge, “ and I helped you whip Pug, 
when he came into Mrs. Watt’s yard ? ” 

“ You have both made a very good beginning,” 
said I, “ and if you keep on you will both leave a 
good example for other cats to be proud of, just as 
we take pride in these we have talked about.” 

And now, although we are never even mentioned 
in the books of the proud and highly favored 
Angoras, still I will return good for evil and relate 
here an incident which I heard mistress read in a 
newspaper, of the valor of an Angora. 

“ I shook the paw of a remarkable Angora cat at 
the veterinary hospital the other day. He was there 
to recover from an attack of influenza, and looked 
thin and gaunt, although his yellow tail was as erect 
and as bushy as ever. It seems this feline is devoted 
to a little poodle that is his constant companion. 
Twice the poodle’s life has been endangered by big 
dogs, and in each instance this otherwise gentle cat 


184 Pussy Meow 

has flown upon the foe and killed him. One would 
scarcely believe this gracious yellow creature was 
the slayer of two fierce bulldogs, but such is his 
record.” 


XXVII 


ANOTHER HOME 

One day soon after Brownie's death Dorothy and 
Teddy came over with Judy, their little Maltese 
kitty, all nicely cuddled up in a covered basket, and 
asked mistress if she would keep her till they re- 
turned from the Lake Shore. 

“ You know we promised to have some one take 
care of the kittens during our vacation,” said 
Dorothy, “ and we couldn’t think of anybody that 
would do it better than you.” 

Mistress seemed very much pleased at this. She 
praised the children for remembering their promise 
so well and told them that Judy might stay. Then 
she added, “ But who is going to take care of 
Punch?” 

“ We intend to take him along,” said Teddy ; 
“ we would take Judy too, but mamma thinks two 
cats will be too much trouble.” 

“ Oh, no,” said mistress, “ you must either take 

both, or leave both. If they are separated so long 
185 


i86 Pussy Meow 

they will become estranged, and then they will no 
longer live together peaceably.” 

“ Then you will have to keep Punch, too,” said 
Dorothy. 

“ Rather than have them separated, I will do so,” 
said mistress, “ but you must bring their basket and 
cushions, so they will have some familiar objects to 
attract them to this place.” 

So Teddy went home and fetched Punch and the 
cat furniture, and while he was gone I had a little 
chat with Judy. She did not remember me at 
first, and acted quite saucy for a while. But when 
I told her that I was her mother, and how I had 
nursed her and Punch, and raised them to be the 
handsome cats they were, she snuggled up to me 
and said, “ Oh, yes ; now I remember : you used 
to wash us, and bring us mousies to play with ; and 
I remember also the beautiful lullaby you used to 
sing to us : 

Rockaby, hushaby, Pussy, my dear, 

The dogs are all chained and there’s nothing to fear ! 

“ Oh, how we did want our dear mother that first 
night in our new home ! We just cried and cried 
till we finally dropped asleep.” 


Another Home 


187 

When Teddy returned, mistress fixed up a cozy 
corner for our little summer boarders, as she called 
Punch and Judy, in the kitchen. 

That same evening the landlord called on mis- 
tress, and I heard him talk in a very upbraiding 
way about so many cats on his premises ; and 
finally he said in a lofty and scornful tone : “You 
must either get rid of them, or leave the house.” 

On the very next evening the trunks and boxes 
were brought down from the attic, and mistress and 
Guy started to packing as if they were going on 
another journey. 

One morning a few days later we cats were all 
taken to the attic, where we stayed for a long time. 

I was just raising another family, and I wondered 
what was going to be done with me. But soon 
after lunch time mistress came with a large covered 
wicker basket into which she put me with my 
kittens on a nice soft pad. Peeping through the 
cracks of the basket I could see her put Toddy, 
Punch and Judy into the laundry bag, and when we 
were all fixed up Guy came to fetch us down- 
stairs. There I discovered the moving van, all 
loaded, and Guy, who is very strong, mounted the 
wagon with us. Budge had the honor of riding 


1 88 Pussy Meow 

a-wheel with mistress, tied securely into the 
Switzerland bag. 

And now methinks I hear some of you say “ but 
what became of poor sickly Daisy, and homeless 
Bunny ? ” I am happy to tell you that before we 
left our old home both were cared for ; Daisy with 
her little kitty went to the beautiful and happy land 
where sickness never comes, and where there is a 
home for every cat ; and Bunny and her kittens 
were all provided with good homes through the 
kindness of their friends Don and Teddy. 

It was a very short ride on the moving van to 
our new home, and when we halted it was in front 
of a beautiful white cottage with a spacious vine- 
covered porch. Mistress met us at the door, and 
we were taken into a quiet room where we found 
some salmon already prepared for us on our own 
plate. Budge was there, too, acting rather shy, and 
going around smelling of everything with his mouth 
wide open. But presently Guy brought our pads and 
cushions from off the wagon and fixed up a com- 
fortable place for me and my babies first, and then 
for the other cats. 

For a time it was very noisy down below, and 
Punch and J udy were terribly afraid ; but after a 


Another Home 


189 


while Guy came up and took us outdoors and 
showed us all around. The moving van had gone, 
and mistress was putting the things in order. 
Looking across the back fence I saw a big corn- 
field, and some vacant lots, so I knew we should 
not lack for play-room ; and indeed we soon found 
that the corn-field was an admirable place for a 
game of hide-and-go-seek. 

When we returned into the house mistress had 
fitted up three nice comfortable corners for us in 
the kitchen, one for Punch and Judy, one for Budge 
and Toddy, and a nice big one for me and my 
babies. In the library there was a window-seat 
just like the one we had had on Poplar Avenue. 

On the same day a young lady came whom mis- 
tress called Bettie. We thought at first she was a 
visitor, because she w'as so kind and gentle to us 
cats. But we soon learned that she was the house- 
keeper. 

I have heard it said that the reason so many 
people leave their cats behind when they move into 
another house is because they believe it brings bad 
luck to move one. 

It don’t seem to be so with our mistress ; for 
each time she has moved so far as I know she has 


igo Pussy Meow 

taken with her to the new house from three to 
seven cats, and each time it has been to a finer and 
bigger house than she had before. And now we 
even have a housekeeper. I should think it is 
more likely to be the other way : bad luck comes 
to people who cruelly desert helpless and depend- 
ent creatures and leave them unprovided for. 

On the other hand, the notion prevails among 
some people, as I have heard, that it is- good luck 
to have a cat follow you. Of course, it may be 
presuming too much for a cat to give her opinion 
so freely ; but it seems to me that this good luck 
will only come to people who will take a kind in- 
terest in a poor stray, and who will try to find out 
where she belongs, or else procure another home 
for her. 

Our new house was on Elmwood Place, and we 
found to our great delight that our next door 
neighbors were Miss Wallace, and her little Nellie 
that she told us about that day on the boat. 
Nellie is a white cat, but why this should make her 
think she is any better than we colored cats, I can- 
not understand. She would sit for hours on her 
window-sill, and hump her back and hiss every time 
one of us came in sight; so we very soon con- 



Toddy, Mrs. Smith’s Particular Friend’ 












































































































Another Home 


191 

eluded that as for Nellie we wouldn’t waste any 
time trying to be neighborly. 

Our neighbor on the other side is a little King 
Charles spaniel “ Bosie,” which is short for 
Bo-Peep. If we happened to be out when he took 
his exercise he would nearly bark himself hoarse. 
But we soon gave him to understand that he was 
not big enough to scare us. 

Across the street at Mrs. Smith’s lived “ Patsy,” 
a water spaniel, who always came over at meal 
time. If he had not been sold and taken away I 
dare say mistress would have been obliged to 
change the location of our dinner plate, for Patsy’s 
nose would almost cover the entire dish, and when 
he had eaten all he wanted there never was a 
mouthful left. Still we were sorry to lose Patsy, 
for he was more like dear old Dennis than any dog 
I have ever seen. 

After Patsy went away, Toddy became Mrs. 
Smith’s particular friend. He told me he liked it 
over there because of the beautiful porch, with its 
plants and rugs and cushions ; and also because 
Mrs. Smith was always there; whereas our own 
house seemed to be deserted all day long. 

Punch and Judy were obliged to stay in the 


ig2 Pussy Meow 

basement all day, because mistress feared they 
might go away in search of their home. I really 
don’t think it was necessary to keep them indoors 
because they would stay where their basket is 
when once they got used to the place ; but, of 
course, mistress did not want to take any chances. 
Poor Punch and Judy! They complained bitterly 
at having to be housed in during that beautiful, 
sunshiny weather. We used to peep in at the 
basement windows, and it was pitiful to see how 
they would shift their position so as to get the full 
benefit of the sun’s rays that for a little while dur- 
ing each day meagerly brightened their gloomy 
abode. To be sure, mistress left them a nice lunch 
each day, and balls and spools to play with ; and 
she tied strings in various places to tempt them 
into amusing themselves. But a homesick cat 
does not care much for these things. We were all 
right glad when Teddy came to take them back to 
their home, and I hope that hereafter when they go 
to the Lake Shore they will take Punch and Judy 
with them. 

Among our new neighbors were Marjory and 
Doris, two dear little girls who often came over 
with their doll buggies to take my kittens out to 


Another Home 


m 


ride ; and after a nice outing they would generally 
sit on the porch and hold the kittens on their laps 
a while. Doris’ little brother George used to come 
over too, and sometimes he would try to hold a 
kitten on his lap, but the poor little thing would 
slide right through between his legs, which always 
made George feel very badly, and caused him to 
cry. 

One evening George’s mother called, and mis- 
tress told her about the children’s play with the 
kittens, and how George cried because he could not 
hold one in his lap. At this Mrs. Gafney laughed 
heartily. “ That explains,” said she, “ why George 
teases me so much lately to dress him up in Doris’ 
clothes and make a girl of him.” 

So you see we have found some very delightful 
neighbors in our new house. 


XXVIII 


BOOKER T. WASHINGTON AND ADMIRAL DEWEY 

Just before we left Maple Road the kind Provi- 
dence had sent me five kittens ; but one day upon 
awaking from my nap, three were missing. 1 
knew they could not have crawled out, for they 
were only a few days old, and as I looked for them 
I smelled the odor of that same medicine that mis- 
tress gets for homeless and sick cats. I suppose 
she thought I had too many to take care of ; and 
knowing that whatever she does is for the best, I 
gave myself over wholly to those that remained 
with me. 

One of my kittens was black with white toes and 
a white breast which mistress always called his 
“ white shirt.” The markings on his face were so 
irregular that it made him look as if he had a 
crooked nose. But he was clever and energetic. 
His full name was Booker T. Washington, and I 
used to hear mistress say that he was every whit 

worthy of it. His immaculate white shirt front, to- 
194 



Booker T. Washington 






Booker T. Washington 195 

gether with his dignified bearing, gave him ft real 
preacher-like appearance. 

My other kitten was a Maltese, with white mark- 
ings. When still very small he was promised to 
Miss Gracie Jones, one of our new neighbors on 
Elmwood Place, who came over every day after 
school and played with him. She named him Ad- 
miral Dewey. But Booker was the great favorite, 
and mistress would not promise him to anybody, 
although many asked for him. 

Soon after we became settled in our new home, 
both my kittens were taken very ill. They seemed 
to be in great pain at times, and they would moan 
and cry out in their helplessness so that it was piti- 
ful to see them. At last they became so weak that 
they were no longer able to walk from the basket to 
their box ; but mistress bore with them very 
patiently, as did also Bettie. She would scald milk 
for them and when it had cooled, feed it to them 
from a spoon, with a napkin tied around their neck. 
With such excellent nursing the two invalids began 
gradually to improve, and Miss Gracie was over- 
joyed, thinking she would soon be able to take 
Dewey to her home. But all of a sudden her 
mother was taken very ill, and the Doctor said they 


ig6 Pussy Meow 

must go to Denver to live for a long time. Then 
Miss Grade had to give up Dewey because Denver, 
they say, is very far away. 

For several days after Miss Grades departure 
Dewey sat on the window-seat almost constantly 
looking for his friend ; and when at last he de- 
spaired of her coming he refused to play or to eat, 
and thus he pined away, until one morning he did 
not rise at all. When Bettie went to his basket 
to see what was the trouble, Dewey lay there 
dead. He had died of a broken heart, I verily 
believe. 

And right here let me relate a story that Guy 
read to his mother one evening about a little waif 
of a kitten that a boy found in the basement of his 
school building in the great city of San Francisco. 
He was a kind little lad, and anxious to help the 
kitty, so he took her up to his teacher. 

When Guy had read that far he turned to his 
mother and said, “ I know what my teacher would 
do, if I should bring a cat into the schoolroom ; 
she would put the cat out and make me stay after 
school.” 

“ Well, read on,” said his mother, “ and let’s see 
what this teacher did.” So Guy read the piece 


Booker T. Washington 197 

through, while I lay perched on his shoulder and 
listened. The story went on to say how the teacher 
took the kitty in and fixed her a comfortable place 
behind the stove ; how for many days she carried 
her home for the night and brought her back in the 
morning ; and how she was such a well behaved 
kitty and always stayed dutifully in her corner, dur- 
ing study hours. But at recess and after school 
kitty played at marbles with the boys, and caught 
spools and strings for the girls. By and by some 
of the children asked permission to take the kitty 
home, and the teacher allowed them to take her 
by turns as a reward for good conduct. One morn- 
ing on the way to school, a saucy dog frightened 
the kitty, and she escaped from the arms of the 
boy that was carrying her. But he succeeded in 
getting her again, and after that somebody sent a 
fish-net shopping bag to that school for the kitty to 
be conveyed in. And now she has a different 
home and a new master or mistress every day ; yet 
she is just as happy with one as another. 

Now does not this refute the wicked slander that 
cats have no love for people, but only for them- 
selves and for their comfortable homes ? And is 
it not true that those who say this are usually the 


1 98 Pussy Meow 

ones who never gave a cat any affection, and con- 
sequently don’t deserve any in return? 

The loss of little Dewey was indeed a hard blow 
for Booker, but, fortunately, about that time he 
made the acquaintance of a new cat in the neigh- 
borhood named Molly Scott, a handsome tiger, and 
his remaining days at mistress’ house were really 
love’s young dream. 

But even love’s young dream is of short duration, 
if a cat may be allowed to express an opinion on 
such a matter. One evening mistress wrapped up 
Booker and took him out in the Switzerland bag to 
visit a friend, and when she returned it was without 
him. 

“ They would not let me bring him back,” said 
mistress when Bettie inquired after Booker. “ But 
I am sure he couldn’t find a happier home any- 
where, for not only is every member of the family 
perfectly in love with him, but even the house- 
keeper begged me to let him stay, and promised to 
give him the kindest attention.” 

After Booker’s departure, for more than a week 
his friend Molly came over every morning to look 
for him. She would meow first at the back door, 
then at the front door, and not receiving any re- 


J 99 


Booker T. Washington 

sponse, would climb up on the different window 
ledges and call for her friend. But after a while she 
fell in with a new cat by the name of Goldie, and 
he, in time, came to fill Booker’s place in her 
affections. 

A word about Goldie : One cold winter evening 
mistress brought home in a bag a yellow tiger cat, 
which I thought from his appearance must have 
come from the very slums of catdom. He was all be- 
draggled with mud, and his face resembled that of 
a sore-eyed poodle. But after a bath, oh, what a 
difference ! Then it turned out that the stranger 
had a beautiful fluffy coat of sunshiny yellow and 
white, with brown stripes intermingled, and the 
name “ Goldie ” was thought none too nice for him. 
The very first neighbor that saw him was ready to 
adopt him, and this was Mrs. Gafney, the mother 
of our little friends George and Doris. And there 
Goldie is to-day, a delightful playmate, and an all- 
around household treasure. 

I noticed during the first few days Goldie was 
with us that he would not allow any one to touch 
his tail, and would claw and scratch whoever at- 
tempted to touch it, even in a friendly way. Mis- 
tress tried her best to teach Goldie better manners 


200 


Pussy Meow 

by scratching him on the head and gradually going 
farther down his back. But just as soon as she got 
near his tail, Goldie would begin to eye her sus- 
piciously, and indeed poor mistress’ hands were a 
network of scratches before she had gained Goldie’s 
confidence enough so that he no longer dug his 
fierce claws into her flesh. 

I was very curious to know what caused Goldie 
to act so, and at the first opportunity I asked him 
the reason. 

“ Reason enough,” said he. “ If you had had 
your tail pinched and twisted as mine has been by 
a cowardly sneak of a boy, you would be wary too. 
But I finally tired of such a life and started out in 
search of a better home.” 

“And how were you so fortunate as to fall into 
the hands of our mistress ? ” said Budge, who had 
come to hear Goldie’s story. 

“ Fortunate, I should say it was fortunate,” said 
Goldie. “ I will tell you all about it. After tramp- 
ing from door to door for several days, and sleeping 
under barns and coal sheds, one evening I followed 
two ladies up to a beautiful house. But evidently 
they had not noticed me, for as soon as they 
entered, the door was shut, and I was left behind. 


Booker T. Washington 201 

I felt very badly, especially as I had learned from 
their conversation that they were friends of cats. 
As I sat there on the porch rail 'wondering what 
next to do, I noticed that it was not a very great 
distance to a brilliantly lighted window, and being 
anxious to attract the attention of those ladies I 
made a bold leap and landed safely on the window- 
sill. There in that beautiful room sat four ladies, 
and a gentleman, and one of the ladies came at 
once to the window and begged the gentleman to 
open it. He did so, and I heard him say some- 
thing about a “ poor apology for a cat ” as he took 
me in and set me on a rug. Then one and another 
began talking about me in a way that was any- 
thing but complimentary, while the lady that had 
asked to let me in sat on the floor beside me, look- 
ing me over, and occasionally rubbing my nose 
and head. 

“ I felt that 1 had at last found a friend, and sure 
enough, when it was time to go home, she asked 
for a laundry bag to carry me in, saying she would 
give me a bath and prepare me for a home because 
I was a very nice cat. And that is how I was 
brought here that evening.” 

Before Goldie went to live with George and 


202 


Pussy Meow 

Doris, he spent some very happy days with us. 
He was a fine mouser, and was always rummaging 
around the barn over in the corn-field. Of course 
he never succeeded in catching any mice for the 
simple reason that the barn is too close to our 
premises, and no mouse could exist there for a 
single day. 

And now speaking of mice, let me say right 
here : never expect a poorly-fed, ill-treated cat to 
catch them, because such a cat in time loses her 
sense of smell so completely that she is unable to 
scent mice at all. But on the other hand, the 
better you treat her, the more she will do for you 
in return. 


XXIX 


TWO FAR JOURNEYS 

I suppose you have wondered why I never 
mention Guy any more. Well, he has gone away 
off to Boston to attend school. I well remember 
when a new trunk was brought into the house, and 
mistress packed all of his things into it so carefully. 
When it was very nearly filled to the top, she tucked 
in a box of candy and four little pictures ; one of her- 
self, one of a darling little girl, one of a beautiful 
lady with a baby in her arms that had a white circle 
around his head, and one of a group of kittens all 
standing in a row. On top of the pictures and the 
candy she laid a new silk muffler, and a beautiful 
soft, fluffy bath-robe, and before she could put in 
any more she had to go down-stairs to see a 
caller. 

I had been with mistress all the morning, watch- 
ing the different things she put into the trunk, and 
I felt myself getting quite sleepy ; so while she was 
down-stairs I crawled into the trunk to take my 
203 


204 Pussy Meow 

morning nap, and I found a very cozy little place 
between the folds of that beautiful robe. 

I was just getting nicely settled, when I felt 
Budge crawling in from the other side. “ Isn’t this 
fine,” said he, as his nose touched mine; and in less 
time than it takes to tell it, we were fast asleep in 
Guy’s new trunk. 

This was very pleasant, but imagine my feelings 
when I was rudely awakened by being squeezed 
so hard that it is a wonder my body has not ever 
since been flat instead of round ; and as for making 
an outcry, it was utterly impossible. But thanks to 
the kind Providence, in an instant I felt the pres- 
sure released. Just then I heard mistress say some- 
thing about the trunk being too full, and before I 
got myself out of the folds of the robe, her kind 
hands were upon me. As she pulled me out of 
my hiding-place, she said, “ For mercy sakes ! cats ! 
did you want to go to Boston, too ? ” Then with- 
out another word she quickly locked the trunk, for 
the expressman stood ready to take it away. So 
you see how near we came to going to Boston with 
Guy. 

After Guy had gone, some of mistress’ friends 
advised her to break up housekeeping and to board. 


205 


Two Far Journeys 

“Just think how much cheaper it would be 
you,” said Mrs. Cotton one day; “and . i ; •. . 
housekeeping to bother with, how much more 
leisure time you would have.” 

“ I don’t know how I would employ my leisure 
more profitably,” said mistress, “ than in maintain- 
ing the dear home on which my boy’s tenderest 
thoughts are centred, and around which cluster 
those sacred memories that form the very ground- 
work of a wholesome and rugged life. The very 
first letter he wrote me started out : ( I am seated 
by my window as the sun is setting over my dear 
western home.’ Now, would he have such fond 
thoughts of his home, and would he be likely to 
connect it with the beautiful spectacle of the setting 
sun, were it reduced to a room in a boarding- 
house ? ” 

“ Again you have convinced me that your way 
of thinking is right,” said Mrs. Cotton. 

And so now, although Guy is no longer with us, 
we are still in our dear home on Elmwood Place. 

When the pleasant weather came again, mistress 
began to make ready, as usual, for her summer out- 
ing. Of course, we did not expect her to take us 
along this time, because we had heard that she was 


2o6 


Pussy Meow 

going way off to her “ dear Switzerland,” as she 
always calls it; and judging from what they say, 
Switzerland must be even farther off than Denver. 
But we knew that Bettie would be at home with us, 
so we were content. 

Just before mistress went on her long journey, a 
lovely young lady came to help her get ready, and 
the very first day they got to talking about us cats. 

“ You ought to get acquainted with Mrs. Bolton,” 
said Miss Cummings, “ for she is just as great a 
friend of cats as you are and her home is a perfect 
haven for strays-” 

“ I am very glad to hear it,” said mistress. “ Do 
please tell me about her cats.” 

“ Yes,” said Miss Cummings, “ Mrs. Bolton has 
fitted up a little shed at the rear of her house, 
which is filled up in cold weather with loose straw. 
Into this place stray or homeless cats and dogs 
crawl through a small opening and find shelter. 
Moreover they are fed and made to feel welcome. 
I have known her to have so many of these tran- 
sient boarders there that it takes several pounds of 
meat a day to supply them ; and as soon as they 
look sleak and plump Mrs. Bolton generally finds 
good homes for them.” 


Two Far Journeys 207 

“ What you say is encouraging,” said mistress, 
“ because I am often criticised, and told that I 
would do better to lavish my attentions on some 
neglected child, than on cats. But children have a 
hundred friends where cats have none.” 

“ That’s just what I have heard Mrs. Bolton say,” 
replied Miss Cummings. 

“ And furthermore I have found,” said mistress, 
“ that my interest in cats has increased my love for 
human beings, and indeed for all living creatures.” 

But to return to the journey. When mistress 
went away to Switzerland three lovely young ladies 
came to live at our house, and Bettie kept house 
for them. Toddy was living with Mrs. Smith and 
Budge and I stayed at home. But if you should 
ask me how we spent the long summer, I should 
have to tell you that we passed a good share of it 
sitting on the front porch railing, where mis- 
tress had placed a shelf behind the vines for our 
accommodation. There we sat day after day, look- 
ing longingly up the street ; each wanting to be 
the first to tell the others the happy news of mis- 
tress’ return. At last the robins had sung their 
good-bye songs, and the grasshoppers had taken 
their departure. The leaves were beginning to fall 


208 


Pussy Meow 

but we did not find any pleasure in chasing them, 
as we had other years. Our days were passed 
wearily and sadly, till one morning the joyful news 
came that mistress had arrived in New York. Oh ! 
how it thrilled us with delight. Budge ran across 
the street to tell Toddy, and we all went to work 
to sleek ourselves up so as to look our very pretti- 
est. I had at this time three little kittens just ten 
days old, and they had that very morning opened 
their eyes. They, too, had to come in for their 
share of grooming. 

The next morning after breakfast a carriage 
drove up to the curb, and in it was our mistress. 
Toddy recognized her from way across the street, 
and came over mewing a hearty welcome. Budge 
gave vent to his feelings by means of the graceful 
curves and spirals of his tail, and as for me, I wel- 
comed her with a succession of winks. 

As soon as mistress had greeted us all, she in- 
quired after my kittens just as if she knew all about 
them, and, of course, I showed them to her with 
great delight and pride. 

“ Poor, dear Meow/' said she, “ you tried to have 
a pleasant surprise for my home-coming, didn’t 
you ? ” 


209 


Two Far Journeys 

I winked assent, and then she proceeded to name 
my babies. The dainty little gray with white 
breast, she called Lady Jane Grey; the tiger Patsy, 
and the black one Hiddigeigei, after a famous black 
cat that lived many years ago in a beautiful castle 
on the Rhine, and in a German book 1 you can 
read what an honorable and useful cat he was. 

When mistress took a second look at Toddy she 
seemed visibly affected by the sad plight he was in, 
for he had been in failing health all summer. His 
once beautiful body was flabby and wasted, and 
the once bushy tail stringy, and almost bare. For 
several days Toddy received mistress’ most lavish 
attention ; then all of a sudden he disappeared, and 
not one of us had any idea whither he had gone, 
till one evening Mrs. Smith came over and inquired 
for him. 

“ I took him to the hospital,” said mistress, “ but 
it was too late to save him ; and he has gone to the 
other side of Jordan.” Mrs. Smith said she was 
very sorry to miss him, but that, after all, she 
thought that was the best place for him. 

So now, of course, although I don’t know where 
Jordan is, still I am satisfied it must be a very good 

1 Vid. “ Der Trompeter von Saeckingen,” by Scheffel. 


210 


Pussy Meow 

place for cats, if Mrs. Smith and mistress think so ; 
and perhaps I ought to have made the title of this 
chapter read “ Three Far Journeys ” instead of two. 

About the time mistress returned from Switzer- 
land a lady and a gentleman came to live across 
the street from us, and they brought with them a 
white cat. Of course, after the way Nellie had 
treated us we were in no great hurry to make the 
acquaintance of Snowdrop, as they called him ; but 
we used to watch him from our shelf on the porch 
as he would have his ups and downs with Goldie, 
and we soon discovered that he was very much 
like the rest of us in his daily conduct. True, 
there were times when he would sit on his mis- 
tress’ sewing-table by the front chamber window, 
and groom and primp himself just like Nellie, and 
try to look pretty ; but the very same day perhaps 
he would be rolling in the gutter as if he thought a 
dust bath the very best thing to improve his ap- 
pearance. Then also he was a great fellow to ex- 
plore the neighborhood, and after he had nosed 
around in every nook and corner on his own side 
of the street he came to our side one afternoon and 
went over into the corn-field. Budge and I fol- 
lowed him, and after the formal greetings common 



Snowdrop 






























































■ 


Two Far Journeys 211 

to cats, we lay down in a sunny corner and had an 
interchange of views. 

“ It seems to me you have a pretty lonesome 
time of it, alone all day,” said Snowdrop, sprawling 
himself out on the sun-warmed earth as he spoke. 

We told him that we had become used to being 
alone during the day, and what a kind mistress we 
had, and how we regretted her long absence. 
Then he told us what a long journey he made with 
his mistress all the way from a great city called 
Chicago to his present home. 

“ Are Chicago cats all white like you ? ” said 
Budge. 

“ No, indeed,” replied Snowdrop, “ my very best 
friend and constant companion in Chicago was a 
black cat named Topsy. She hadn’t a white hair 
on her whole body ; and she was the mother of two 
kittens, one all black with white slippers, and the 
other all white with black tips on her ears and tail. 
And beside her I knew many other cats just like 
these around here. So you see that Chicago cats 
are no different from those in other cities.” 

When I asked Snowdrop how he came to leave 
Chicago and make such a long journey, he said : 

“ You see it was this way. One day a fine gen- 


2 1 2 Pussy Meow 

tleman came to our house, and then there was a 
great feast with flowers and music and many beau- 
tiful ladies. But my mistress was the most beautiful 
of them all, for she was dressed all in white. Topsy 
and I were there too, all decked out with beautiful 
ribbons. But right in the midst of it this young 
gentleman took my mistress and me away. I was 
put in a large covered basket ; but I did not mind 
it, so long as my dear mistress was with me. I 
slept all night in a chair beside her bed, and in the 
morning early I was again put into my basket. 
The next time when it was opened I stepped out of 
it in my present beautiful home. If only Topsy 
was here, my happiness would be complete.” 

I told Snowdrop to come over and visit us 
whenever he felt homesick for Topsy, and he 
thanked me very kindly. But just at that moment 
he heard his mistress’ call, and like an obedient cat, 
he arose and went home. 

Budge and I promised ourselves many delightful 
times with Snowdrop ; but, sad to relate, that was 
the last we ever saw of him. We never knew what 
had become of him till one day Goldie told us that 
he saw a man pull Snowdrop off the porch-rail in 
front of his house, and walk away with him. 


Two Far Journeys 213 

Of course, his mistress was heart-broken when 
she discovered that her pet had disappeared ; and 
when, after every effort to find him, she finally gave 
him up for lost, she came over and selected my lit- 
tle Patsy to take Snowdrop’s place as soon as he 
should be old enough. But I do hope that before 
that time comes, Patsy’s new mistress will put up a 
shelf for him on her porch, high enough like ours, 
so passers-by cannot reach him, and behind the 
vines, so he can see without being seen. 

Now I have told you about four far journeys in- 
stead of two, 


XXX 


THE BURGLAR MAN. 

Not very long after mistress’ return one evening 
just after dark a big burglar man came into our 
house. I knew he was a burglar because he crawled 
in through the window, and he went into all the 
rooms. Budge was terribly afraid of him and hid 
himself under the ice-chest; but Toddy and I fol- 
lowed him up-stairs to see what he would do. First 
he pulled down all the shades, then lighted a little 
lamp which he carried, and opened the closets and 
drawers, and mistress’ trunk. He was just about 
to do up some of mistress’ most beautiful dresses 
into a bundle, when I heard the sound of three very 
loud whistles on the outside. At this the man in- 
stantly dropped everything and rushed down-stairs ; 
and just as he was running out of the back door, 
Bettie came in at the side. 

I did so wish I was big enough to grab him like 
Beautiful Joe did old Jenkins, and hold unto him 

till she could catch him. But being only a cat, of 
214 


The Burglar Man 215 

course, I could not do it. Still, if he had touched 
my kittens I believe I should have summoned up 
all the tiger within me in my efforts to defend 
them. 

During the evening many of our neighbors came 
to the house to see what the burglar had done, and 
from what they said I guess there is no telling 
what he would have taken if the whistle hadn’t 
sounded just when it did. For all I know he might 
have taken my babies too. At any rate, I con- 
cluded to put them where he couldn’t find them, if 
he ever came again. 

Among the neighbors that called that evening was 
the gentleman that had brought Snowdrop from 
Chicago. The moment he saw my basket he in- 
quired for Patsy, and mistress took him out and 
handed him over to his future master. 

“ Feline stock is bound to rise,” said he, as he 
fondly petted Patsy ; “ it is becoming the fashion 
now to have real cats in schools and kindergartens, 
instead of mere pictures of them.” 

“ Yes,” said mistress/' the many-sided usefulness 
of the cat is gradually becoming recognized. I had 
a vivid picture of her future possibilities when on a 
visit to a hospital for insane, where I saw sullen 


216 Pussy Meow 

and turbulent men and women subdued and 
softened by the winsome ways of a kitten ; and the 
feelings that its presence seemed to awaken within 
them seemed to me to point out a new way to 
‘ minister to a mind diseased.’ ” 

The gentleman finally put Patsy back into my 
basket and I felt quite relieved, for I had begun to 
fear from the way he praised and petted him that 
he was going to take him away. 

That night I hunted for a good hiding-place and 
before morning I had my darlings all safely tucked 
away in the basement behind the kindling. 

It was no small task to carry each one down the 
stairs, for they were now several weeks old ; but 
you know a mother will endure almost any hardship 
for the sake of her babies. 

The poor little things had their rest so broken, 
that when mistress and Bettie came down they were 
still sound asleep, and I went up-stairs to get my 
breakfast at the usual time. 

As soon as mistress missed my kittens she and 
Bettie began hunting for them in every nook and 
corner, and they looked behind the kindling pile 
several times ; but I had put them in a hollow space 
away back among the kindling where they could 


21 7 


The Burglar Man 

not be seen. After a long search they gave it up, 
hoping they would come to light by evening, and 
my poor babies lay all that day on the bare stone 
floor. 

I soon discovered that I had made a mistake, for 
before night their eyes were all watery, and they 
were sneezing a regular concert, so that when mis- 
tress returned in the evening it did not take her 
long to find them. 

She brought them up-stairs and wrapped them in 
a flannel cloth. Then she fixed our basket with a 
nice warm blanket, and set it in a sheltered corner 
behind the cook-stove, and there she installed my 
babies in their new quarters. For many days every 
morning and evening she would take a basin of 
warm water, and with a soft cloth wash out their 
eyes ; for the discharge would make such a thick 
coating as to close them up completely in a few 
hours. As the kittens were too small to be fed 
medicine with a spoon, mistress had to devise some 
new way of giving it to them. She dipped their 
paws repeatedly into a mixture called catnip tea, 
and, of course, they would lick it off. 

But even with this ingenious invention it was 
some weeks before my kittens recovered from the 


218 Pussy Meow 

ill effects of that unhappy day on the basement 
floor. I was very sorry to have caused my dear 
mistress so much trouble, and my poor babies so 
much suffering, but I did it to keep the horrid 
burglar man from finding them. 

A few days after the burglar man had visited us, 
a handsome water spaniel came to the house and 
begged for admittance, and mistress very gladly 
took him in. I think the kind Providence sent him 
to protect us, for from that time we have never been 
bothered with burglars. 

The dog was named Dennis, because he was the 
very image of our old-time friend on Poplar 
Avenue. He and I became good friends at once, 
but Budge resented his presence so bitterly that for 
many weeks they could not be allowed in the same 
room ; and it was only by very slow degrees, as 
Budge saw that Dennis would not molest him, that 
he came to tolerate him. 

When my little kittens had become old enough 
to run about outdoors, Dennis was very helpful. 
He would lie near the curb in front of the house, 
and if one ventured out from the side of the house, 
he would promptly drive him into the back-yard. 
He was also fond of tantalizing us at meal-time, 


The Burglar Man 219 

when his meat was thrown out on the grass for 
him. He would stand off, pretending he did not 
care for it, and just as quick as one of us would 
attempt to go and take it, he would come with a 
bound and a growl, and snatch it away from us, 
then drop it a little further off, and repeat the opera- 
tion. 

Dennis was in the habit of absenting himself from 
us every week for a day or two. Once he was 
absent several days, and upon his return wore a 
beautiful collar, which, however, was missing when 
he returned from his next trip. I suppose some 
folks thought they had found a nice dog, and 
presented him with a collar; but finding him so 
inconstant, they deprived him of it the next time 
he came around. 

I must not forget to tell you of the very practical 
and effective way that mistress has of teaching 
kittens to know and respond to their names. As 
you probably know, she always gives a kitten a 
name as soon as it is born. Then, whenever she 
picks up one, she keeps repeating its name over and 
over as she pets it. She also occasionally takes one 
away from the rest, up to her room or into the 
library, and there, whether engaged in reading or 


220 


Pussy Meow 

writing, she looks up every little while and talks to 
it, always calling it by name. 

And right here let me tell you, a cat with a 
respectable name feels a sense of dignity and self- 
respect that is impossible to one only known by the 
general name of “ kitty.” Moreover, it gives him a 
chance to exercise promptness and obedience, 
qualities which are sure to endear an animal to his 
master, because, when he hears his name called, he 
can get right up and run, knowing that it means 
him and not some other cat. 

By the way, Bettie has left us, but it was for her 
good that she went, and, of course, we would not 
be so selfish as to be sorry about it, although we 
miss her sorely. Ever since Bettie came, mistress 
gave her lessons almost every evening, and Bettie 
studied very industriously every spare minute. 
Now she has gone to work in an office and is 
living in a boarding-house. 

“You are very foolish when you have a good 
housekeeper, to put such high-faluting notions into 
her head,” said Mrs. Cotton, upon hearing where 
Bettie had gone. “ You might have had her for 
years, if you had just left her alone.” 

“ That’s true,” said mistress. “ But the pleasure 


221 


The Burglar Man 

of helping one who is striving to better her condi- 
tion fully repays for a little inconvenience.’' 

“ You had her a year,” said Mrs. Cotton, “ so you 
did better than most people do, after all. These 
girls are always on the move.” 

“ It’s because most people look upon them as a 
mere convenience,” said mistress, “ instead of as 
fellow-beings with longings for happiness and ad- 
vancement like ourselves. Let housewives set be- 
fore their help a higher ideal and they will set in 
motion within them forces which will root out the 
ever-present longing for shifting about from place 
to place.” 

Mrs. Cotton acted as if she did not quite agree 
with what mistress said. She looked at her watch 
and said it was time for her to go ; but before 
leaving she came over to the bookcase where I had 
been sitting and gave me a few gentle strokes. 


XXXI 


A FRIEND IN NEED 

Just before Bettie went away, mistress brought 
home one evening two little tiger kittens with white 
breasts and faces, but very thin and haggard looking, 
and so distrustful. I heard her tell Mrs. Wallace 
that she had brought them home to try and find 
homes for them. 

“ But I couldn’t recommend these kittens to any- 
body before I knew something of their habits,” said 
mistress, “ for if they turned out to be troublesome 
it would hurt the reputation of our own kittens, 
and so that is why I brought them home. ” 
Mistress named them Billee and Taffy, and started 
at once to put them through the usual course of 
training to fit them for nice homes. 

Taffy was a very quiet little fellow, but Billee was 
quite sociable. On the day after his arrival I had 
occasion to do him a little favor, and in expressing 
his thanks to me he grew quite talkative, and told 
me something of his former life. Said he : “I 
222 


A Friend in Need 223 

was born in a stable that stood in the rear of some 
stores, and we never had a mistress like you have. 
Our master was very kind to his horse Jessie, and 
he seemed to enjoy having us cats around after we 
got old enough to play. But the old stable was so 
infested with fleas, we never had a moment’s peace ; 
and my poor mother became thin and gaunt trying to 
keep herself and us looking respectable. That bath 
last night, 1 dreaded it at first ; but when I saw those 
fleas floating around in the suds I thought I ought 
to be able to stand it for their sakes. If my mother 
could have a bath like that and a brushing, and 
then lie down peacefully on our clean soft pad, it 
would be bliss unheard of to her. But she will never 
leave that dirty old stable so long as she and Jessie 
can share it together, and indeed I don’t think she 
could have a more devoted friend ; for many a 
cold night did we sleep in Jessie’s stall cuddled 
close up to her warm, sleek body. Near our stable 
was a big hotel where our mother got daily many 
choice bits of meat and fish, and this is how she 
made her living and raised her kittens ; and I tell 
you it was pretty hard work for her to carry enough 
food for so many hungry little mouths.” 

“ How many were there of you ? ” said I. 


22 4 


Pussy Meow 

“ Six,” said Billee, “ beside our dear mother, 
who always gave us the best she had of every- 
thing.” 

On the very same evening that mistress brought 
the little kittens home, curiously enough we had 
another new arrival, a Maltese cat with white mark- 
ings. She came up the sidewalk in front of our 
house crying as if in great distress. Mistress 
invited her into the house to have some supper, but 
it was evident that hunger was not the cause of her 
crying, for she did not touch a morsel of food. 
When mistress examined her more closely, she 
found to her horror that the poor thing’s breasts 
were greatly swollen, and that evidently, some one 
had robbed her of her kittens. Then mistress 
picked up the two little new kittens, and laid them 
on the pad by the old cat ; and instantly the little 
things began to nurse her, and were soon purring a 
happy song of thankfulness. The “ stepmother,” 
as mistress called the strange cat, washed each kit- 
ten in true mother fashion, and for several days en- 
joyed real mother bliss. 

All this was very nice for the “ stepmother,” but 
it proved disastrous to the kittens, for both took 
sick and died. After that mistress rubbed the old 


A Friend in Need 


225 

cat’s breasts daily with spirits of camphor, and in a 
few days she seemed to be all right. 

I asked the “ stepmother ” one day how she 
came to leave home at such a critical time, and she 
unburdened to me a tale of cruelty and abuse that is 
almost beyond belief. She said that there being no 
other place provided, her kittens were born in the 
laundry basket, and that on the next morning when 
they were discovered, the lady ruthlessly dumped 
them out on the bare stone floor and ordered her son 
to come and drown them. “ So my poor babies were 
dropped into a bucket of cold water right before 
my eyes,” said she, “ and I was powerless to save 
them.” 

“ Pray, who are these people,” said I, “ that 
treated you in this manner ? ” 

“ Their name is Morton,” said she, “ and Will was 
the one that did the deed ; but he is not to blame. 
I remember years ago when he was a most tender- 
hearted little fellow, and full of sympathy toward 
the suffering. I shall never forget one bitter cold 
day when a kitten followed him home from school 
and he carried it into the house and begged to be 
allowed to keep it. His mother let it remain till 
Will’s bedtime arrived, when she compelled him to 


226 


Pussy Meow 

put it outdoors, where it cried bitterly for hours ; 
and the next morning it was found on the doorstep, 
frozen to death. And now that same mother won- 
ders why her son is so hard-hearted and brutal to- 
ward her.” 

“ I’ve heard of the Mortons before,” said I, “ and 
I don’t blame you for leaving them. But you are 
in good hands now — don’t fear.” 

So the “ stepmother ” remained with us a few 
days longer, and then she was taken by mistress to 
a beautiful home, where they wanted a cat to live 
in the stable with the coachman. 

One cold day last winter, there strayed into our 
basement two strange cats, both tigers, but very un- 
like each other. One was sleek looking, full grown 
with beautiful, large eyes, and very confiding in 
manner. The other was a shy, timid, shrinking 
little creature, afraid of everybody, and yet hunger 
evidently had driven her to seek help at our door. 
Her coat was so rough and dirty, it was difficult to 
tell what its real color was, and one eye was com- 
pletely gone from its socket. She was indeed a 
pitiable sight, and I dare say very few people would 
have allowed her to enter their door. Mistress 
prepared her a plate of salmon, and the moment 


A Friend in Need 


22 7 


she smelled the odor, she began to dance around as 
if she could hardly wait till it was ready. When at 
last the plate was handed down to her she stepped 
into it with both paws, and ate as greedily as any 
dog I ever saw. Mistress let her have the dish all to 
herself, and fed the rest of us from a different plate. 

As soon as the poor creature’s hunger was ap- 
peased, without stopping to wash, she went into a 
dark corner behind the cook-stove and lay down to 
rest. While she thus lay there, mistress said to 
Bettie, “ It seems to me the kindest thing we can 
do to this poor creature is to gently put her to 
sleep and end her troubles.” 

44 I think so, too,” said Bettie ; “ no one would care 
to have such an unsightly animal around the house. 
She will never be anything but a hapless vagabond, 
to whom death would be a blessing.” 

But after all the little stranger was allowed to 
spend a few days of real happiness, and when one 
morning we missed her, we knew that she had gone 
to her long resting-place and was saved from further 
sorrow. 

As to the big cat, mistress said she felt sure that 
she must be somebody’s pet, and she told Bettie not 
to let her out under any circumstances. 


228 


Pussy Meow 

Several days afterward Budge told me that dur- 
ing the first night of the big cat’s stay with us she 
confided to him that her reason for leaving her home 
was the fact that a new housekeeper who had lately 
come, had just made her life unendurable; and 
that in utter despair she had wandered away not 
knowing whither to go. 

The very next day after the stranger arrived she 
became the mother of five kittens. I dread to think 
what would have become of the poor thing and her 
helpless babies on that cold winter night, if mistress 
hadn’t allowed her to stay. But no doubt the kind 
Providence directed her safely to our door. 

A day or two after the little kittens came, there 
was a notice in the newspaper: “ Lost, strayed or 
stolen, a full grown tiger cat. Leave at ‘ The 
Elms * and get reward.” When mistress saw it 
she sent word to “ The Elms ” and they sent the 
coachman, who identified the cat and took her and 
her kittens home, wrapped up in a Buffalo robe and 
tucked in a laundry basket which he had brought in 
the coupe. The people at “ The Elms ” were so 
grateful to mistress for sheltering their pet that they 
sent her a basket of beautiful flowers. 

Of course, it is not to be expected that every lady 


A Friend in Need 


229 

will turn her house into an asylum for stray cats ; but 
I have often heard mistress say, and so I believe it 
is true, that many parents would have less cause to 
mourn over selfishness and ingratitude in their 
children if they would set a more generous and un- 
selfish example before them in their own treatment 
of dumb and helpless creatures. 


XXXII 


A KITTIE PARTY 

When my kittens were of the proper age mistress 
proposed they should have a chance to see all their 
little friends, so we sent out invitations like this : 

" Meow will give a coming-out party on Saturday 
next from two till six, to her kittens Hiddigeigei, 
Lady Jane Grey and Patsy, assisted by Booker T. 
Washington, Mollie Scott, Budge and Goldie.” 

The happy day came at last, sunshiny and bright, 
as if it had been made expressly for our party, 
and at the appointed hour came also our little guests. 
There were Marjory, Winifred, George and Doris, 
and my new friends Frances, Arline, Earl, Lillian 
and Burt. These, with Booker, Goldie, Budge, my- 
self and the kittens, made just sixteen in all. 

Mollie Scott was also invited, but she did not 
come. After it was all over she called and excused 
herself, saying she had never attended a party, and 
didn’t know just how it would be ; but that she 
had spent most of the afternoon on the back fence, 
230 



Hiddigeigei, Patsy and Lady Jane Grey 


























A Kittie Party 231 

taking note of what was going on, and that she 
thought another time she would venture to try it. 
Said I, “ The way to learn to do a thing is to do it, 
and you have probably missed the chance of your 
life.” 

At this Mollie gave me a very solemn look, and 
as she turned to go I heard her mutter something 
to herself about “ no use crying over spilled milk.” 

But to return to the party. Each of us big cats 
wore a wide ribbon sash with a big bow tied 
at the back, but the little kittens wore narrow rib- 
bons tied around their necks. Goldie wore white, 
Booker crimson, Budge blue, and I orange ; and the 
kittens wore blue except Hiddigeigei who wore pink. 
Our basket, handsomely decorated with fresh ribbon, 
was placed in a sheltered corner of the library, and 
let me assure you that we cats looked every bit as 
festive and gay as did our guests. 

For a while the children wanted to do nothing 
else but play with the kittens, and I was only sorry 
that I did not have enough to go around. I never 
saw children handle kittens so carefully ; no maul- 
ing, no squeezing ; they just laid them on their 
breasts or on their laps, and stroked their backs and 
scratched their heads and chins, as if they all knew 


232 Pussy Meow 

just how kittens like to be treated. I half suspect 
that mistress took them aside and showed them 
how. 

The kittens enjoyed the party much more than 
we older ones. Budge — poor, timid, bashful Budge 
— he never did like a crowd. When he saw such a 
troop of children come in, he made for the base- 
ment, where he remained in hiding behind the 
laundry stove till mistress brought him up and put 
him on top of the high bookcase ; and there he 
seemed to feel secure, for none of the children 
could reach him. Booker and Goldie spent most 
of the afternoon in hiding under the couch. 

When my kittens had been played with long 
enough, I went into my basket, and mistress under- 
stood just what I meant by it. 

" Children,” said she, “ you see the kittens’ 
mother thinks her babies have had enough play for 
the present, and she has gone to her basket to in- 
vite them to come to her to have some dinner and 
to take a nap. Now set all the kittens down on 
the floor and see what they will do.” 

When my kittens were set free I began crooning 
to them, and oh, how it pleased the children to see 
the little things stand still a second, prick up their 


A Kittie Party 233 

cars, and then run as one man in the direction of 
the sound that a tired kitten loves so well to hear. 

In less time than it takes to tell it, the three were 
gathered at my breast and in another minute they 
were purring contentedly, and Booker, dear 
thoughtful child, stood guard in front of the basket. 

Then some of the children sang beautiful songs 
about kittens and birds, and Miss Wallace ac- 
companied them on the piano. I liked Lillian’s 
song best of all ; I will tell you the words of it : 

“ A homeless little kitten 

Came to my door one day, 

1 I’m cold and starved, please let me in! ’ 

Its sad cries seemed to say. 

I took it up and shut the door 
Upon the bitter storm, 

And put the little shiv’ring thing 
Before the fire to warm. 

“ I gave it milk to drink, and smoothed 
Its pretty, soft gray fur. 

* Poor Pussy, stay with me,’ I said. 

It answered with a purr. 

And ever since that winter day 
I have so happy been ; 

I gained a merry playmate when 
I let my pussy in.” 


When this song was finished they started a game 
of Puss in the Corner, and they were just in the 


234 Pussy Meow 

midst of it when the great Swiss cow bell rang, in- 
viting the guests to luncheon. Then the children 
were formed into line with mistress and Burt at the 
head, and off they marched toward the dining- 
room to the tune of “ The Stars and Stripes For- 
ever.” 

Several ladies assisted mistress with serving. 
The table was decorated with daffodils, and indeed 
daffodils were conspicuous all over the house. At 
each plate stood a little red basket filled with candy 
to take home. 

When my kittens were all fast asleep I too went 
to the dining-room, and those happy faces were in- 
deed a lovely sight. The children were just having 
their ice cream and cake, and one of the ladies was 
playing a soft, sweet air on the piano. 

“ This table-cloth is cleaner than ours,” said a 
voice as I entered, and at this the ladies all smiled 
at each other. 

“ This is starshine candy,” said Marjory. 

“ No, it’s moonshine drops,” said Arline. 

The fact is, it was sunshine chips, as I heard 
mistress tell Bettie when the groceries came. 

“ How old is your little brother ? ” said Lillian to 
Doris. 


A Kittie Party 235 

“ He is three months and six years,” said Doris. 

“ My little brother came on the 4th of July,” 
said Frances. “ Papa bought him instead of fire- 
works.” 

The ladies smiled some more. 

“ Our little brother is only two days old,” said 
Lillian. 

“ I bet if my papa had known about it, he would 
have bought him before your papa got him,” said 
Winifred. 

At this the ladies all smiled again. 

When luncheon was over, Frances engaged the 
attention of both old and young by her skill as a 
climber and slider, and it seems to me that twelve 
successful slides down the balustrade ought to have 
been enough for her, but, no, she wanted more, and 
in the thirteenth slide — bifif, bang — down she went. 
But fortunately she landed on the couch, so that 
she escaped with only a bruise on her knee, which 
mistress quickly covered with court-plaster. But 
in descending, one of her heels struck Earl in the 
stomach and knocked him against the wall, so that 
he got a big bump on the back of his head. 

Poor Earl tried hard not to cry, but the tears just 
oozed out in spite of him. Mistress sent word to 


236 Pussy Meow 

Mrs. Wallace, his grandmamma, and in a few minutes 
she appeared with a remedy, and attended to the 
sore place in such an efficient way as only grand- 
mammas know how. 

Booker turned the queerest somersaults, sideways, 
frontward and backward trying to get his sash off, 
and Goldie and he engaged in several pugilistic 
encounters to the great delight and amusement of 
the children. 

Finally I thought I’d show them what I could 
do, so I jumped on the piano and played a tune for 
them. At this Budge took courage. He jumped 
off the bookcase where he had been stowed away, 
and joined me on the piano and we played a duet, 
the like of which has never been heard on land or 
sea. 

While we were still playing, a gentleman came 
with a big square box which he opened up and set 
upon a very high three-legged stool. Then he had 
mistress sit in front of it and the children all 
around her. The curtains were drawn, and the 
room was darkened, when, whiz — something blew 
up and made an awful flash, and everybody said 
“ah,” except poor little Burt; he said, “ ouch,” and 
began to cry. Some of the stuff from the “ flash ” 


A Kittie Party 237 

had blown toward him and burned his hand so that 
it became very red and blistered. Mrs. Gafney 
rushed across to her house to get some soothing 
oil that was said to be the best thing in the world 
for burns, and Burt’s hand was bandaged up. 

It began to look by this time as though the 
whole party would have to be sent home in an am- 
bulance ; but the arrival of Don told us that it was 
getting close unto six o’clock, for he had come to 
take Winifred home ; and in a few minutes all the 
children, quite unwillingly, began to make ready 
for their departure. 

As they bade us good-bye, they all said that they 
had had a very nice time, and mistress pinned on 
the breast of each child one of those beautiful daf- 
fodils ; and so ended our party. 

Here endeth also my story. 

May the dear, kind Providence bless and keep 
you all. 


LITTLE MAID SERIES 


As the title suggests, this series is especially 
adapted to young girls of from six to twelve 
years of age. They are pure stories 
told in a simple, attractive manner 
that cannot fail to become 
popular with mothers as 
well as their children. 




DIMPLE DALLAS 

Or the further fortunes of “ A Sweet Little Maid." 
By Amy E. Blanchard, Author of •‘A Dear 
Little Girl l ' “ Thy Friend Dorothy ,” etc., 
etc. i2tno. Cloth. Illustrated. $1.00. 

A charming addition to the “ Little Maid Series,” 
and a book that every little maid will love. As the 
tale implies, it is a sequel to “A Sweet Little Maid,” 
and we again meet dainty Dimple and funny little 
Bubbles, with Florence, Rock, and all the other 
friends. Some new friends are introduced, too, 
who do not prove nearly so agreeable as our old 
acquaintances; in fact, Cousin Ellen makes Dimple’s 
home so unpleasant for her that she at last runs 
away, and many a strange experience she must pass 
through before she reaches home again. 



Little Maid Series — Continued 


A DEAR LITTLE GIRL 

By Amy E. Blanchard, Author of “ Taking a 
Stand," il Thy Friend Dorothy ,” etc. Illus- 
trated. \2mo. Cloth. $1.00. 

This is a pretty, wholesome child’ s story, one of 
the sort that commends itself to children’ s sympa- 
thies and will be conned again and again. The 
author is Amy E. Blanchard, who has written 
several other acceptable juveniles. No mother need 
hesitate ever putting this or any other of Miss 
Blanchard’ s stories into her little daughter’s hands. — 
Detroit Free Press. 

Amy E. Blanchard is the author of quite a num- 
ber of pure-toned stories for girls, and her latest book 
is “A Dear Little Girl,” who won the love of every- 
body through the expression of a character at once 
simple and innocent. — Philadelphia Call. 

The story of a bright, charming, tender, and good- 
hearted little girl, whose kindness, amiability, and 
natural and unaffected goodness charm all who come 
in contact with her, and soften the heart even of 
those who are inclined to be harsh and severe with 
children. It is one of a number of books published 
lately which give an insight into the feelings and 
motives of childhood. It indicates how their seeming 
faults are frequently the result of their good im- 
pulses. 

The simple story is well told, and will interest 
children and all who are interested in them. — Pitts- 
burg Times. 



Little Maid Series — Continued 


A SWEET LITTLE MAID 

By Amy E. Blanchard, Author of “ A Dear Little 
Girl," “ Dimple Dallas," etc., etc. Illus- 
trated. 12 mo. Cloth. $1.00. 

The heroines are a little white girl and a little 
black girl, two very intimate friends. It is a charm- 
ing story for little girls — charmingly illustrated. — 
Outlook. 

This is a fascinating story, told in Miss Blanch- 
ard’s delightful style, and it will be a very queer 
little maid that will not enjoy reading about the good 
times enjoyed by Florence, Dimple and Bubbles and 
their dollies . — Richmond Times. 

Miss Blanchard has the happy knack of writing 
in a way to interest little children, and this simple 
tale is likely to interest many a young reader where 
a more pretentious narrative would fail. — Indian- 
apolis Journal. 

Many charming stories for children have come 
from the pen of this writer, and this new one adds 
another lovable girl to the number with whom we 
have already become acquainted. They have their 
faults and little tempers as well as their sweet ways, 
but we forgive them and love them all the more. 
This Sweet Little Maid and her cousin have good 
times together and also bad times when they get into 
trouble, but through it all they claim our constant 
interest and affection. — Westminster Teacher. 


Oot B 1901 




SEP 23 1901 















































































